Happy New Year, everyone! I hope 2011 brings each of my readers a productive and fulfilling year in whatever endeavors you take on and wherever you happen to find yourself.
The torrential rains of last week ended by Thursday, such that Alma and I were able to resume our beach walks on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. So I can honestly say that Alma and I witnessed both the final sunset of 2010 Friday and then the first sunset of 2011 yesterday. The rains had stopped but it was still quite chilly. And the skies stayed cloudy both days. So these are not the greatest sunsets I have ever seen. But after the torrential rains we had, any sunshine is welcome and any sunset is better than walking inside a souless mall.
But I was thinking about New Year's Day and what it all means as I walked today. The fact that Friday and yesterday seemed almost indistinguishable from one another suggests that New Year's Day is just another day. If it had any special signficance, it would instead happen on Winter Solstice (December 22), the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.
Each of my days has taken on a quite similar rhythm. I wake up and check stocks and investments, then work on the blog, look for a job and manage emails. Then Alma and I have lunch. After lunch, we head to the beach or, lately, to the mall for our daily walk. When we get home from the walk, I will work on Alma's website\virtual art gallery and work on figuring out which actions I wish to take in the stock market the following day.
And yet the New Year offers a possibility of renewal, of being able to get things done right this time, of being able to re-make ourselves and reform those traits we find undesirable. How beguiling to have a 're-set button' that becomes available once a year.
I have made three resolutions for the New Year of 2011.
1) To continue looking for a new job until I find one that will pay our bills and that does not make me want to vomit;
2) To maintain our net worth through smart and timely investing, even though I am not working;
3) To not work for an asshole who will earn profits from my labor.
These three resolutions may directly conflict with one another. For example, in order to satisfy resolution number 2, I might have to break resolution number 3. By the same taken, satisfying resolution number 2 might demand some injury to our net worth. So I will be spending the next few days intensely thinking about and figuring out how to work for a non-profit that pays enough to meet our monthly expenses or to use some combination of investing and working to not break either resolution.
Alma has also made two resolutions:
1) To keep up the good work in keeping off the weight that she has already lost;
2) To find ways to encourage herself to continue producing new works of art.
In order to help her with her resolutions, I wanted to make sure everyone knows about Alma's website\virtual art gallery at http://www.almasartasylum.com/. If you have not already done so, please stop by the Asylum, check out her wonderful artwork, and fill out her guestbook.
Again, Happy New Year and Best Wishes for 2011!
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