In the New Year...

Picture of me participating in the Brazilian tradition of offering flowers to Iemanja the water goddess on New Years Eve for good luck.

I realize I'm a bit behind the game with declaring my New Year's Resolutions. But I've had these stewing in my mind for a few weeks and honestly I was just waiting for myself to finish blogging about my Rio trip.

And really, that brings me to my first resolution. In 2012, I challenge myself to de-organize my task list. Try to stop obsessively doing things in a A before B before C fashion. Of course my skills in organizing plans and being strategic are valuable in my very structured life as a parent. But too often I get hung up in deadlock because I resist simply doing what I think of when I think of it. I demand more spontaneity and permission to do things even when they're not next on my to-do list.

Secondly, I resolve to let myself be an artist. It goes along with the spontaneity. I believe that I can find the time to flex my creativity in projects that have nothing to do with Little Ocean. Projects for my enjoyment and expression solely. I need this badly. I need to make things that will not be for sale, not used by anyone for any reason, won't even be blogged about.

And that leads me to my final resolution. Stop trying to document everything! It slows me down when every time I do something exciting, not only do I have to do it itself, but I also have to document it. Instagram, I'm looking at you. Forget about it!

To sum it up, 2012 will be slightly spontaneous, totally strange, and full of art that I will make and throw away but no one will ever know.