Happy New Year!
It’s a short one this week, since I’m on vacation and cannot be trusted to be at the keyboard with a drink in my hand.
I am not very good with resolutions, but I am aiming to do some things with regularity in 2023.
Shop locally and nationally as much as I can. I get that I can buy a giant jar of commercially prepared red pepper jelly at Costco for about six bucks. But I feel better about buying a $10 jar from a woman who remembers that I stop by her table at the summer and Christmas markets to stock up on her jellies, sauces, spicy pickled green beans (a game changer), pickled beets, and Texas Chow Chow. I’ll gladly pay a premium for her gratitude.
Remember that No is a complete sentence. If I can’t, won’t, or don’t want to, I have to get comfortable saying no without elaboration. It’s not necessary for me to explain or give a reason why I’ve said no. I raised my boys with the mantra “No is always an option” whenever I ask them to do something (like read rough drafts of my books) and I should walk my talk.
Get to yes more often. I will ask for the things I need. I will not be shy about the things I want. (see subscription option below)
Read well. When I was a bookseller with a stack of advance reader copies on my desk, a book had 50 pages to catch my attention. I’ve tried to adhere to that, but with so many books I want to read (I read around 100 books per year), I’ve had to shorten that to 30. I’ve stuck with books to the halfway point, which for some 600+ page books is a long haul, even when I knew by page 100 that I was not in love. It’s okay to put a book aside if it’s not grabbing you. Never mind that everyone in that Facebook group loves it. It’s okay to walk away. Maybe one day that book will engage you. Some books are like that. I tried to read Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies when it was published in 1999, and wanted to stick needles in my eyes. I read it this year (2022) and thoroughly enjoyed it.
And while I’m on the subject of books, educate people who say that listening to audiobooks is not the same as reading. It’s not. Reading activates the left brain for language processing, while listening activates both the left and right (processing language and speech and acoustics). Listening to a narrator also triggers our brains to process emotions. You do you and consume words however you want. Also, my kids are telling me I need to say graphic novels and manga totally count, too.
I think that is enough '“goal setting” for me for 2023. What’s on your list? Comment below, please, and help me get to yes. ;)