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New Year’s is one of those reflection points that inspires some of us to review the past and possible set new goals for future realigning of purpose, body or spirit.  My husband’s blog is lit up with hits on an old meme, so I thought I’d revive it here as well.  Play along at home via the comment box or link back from your own blog if you like. Just keep in mind that the point isn’t to answer every question or even any.  It’s just an opportunity to meditate.

Happy New Year!

1.  What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I don’t make them.  I do have a loose idea of what I’d like to do throughout the course of a year, but resolutions remind me of all that nonsense goal-setting mumbo-jumbo in the professional portfolio’s we were required to maintain back in my teaching days.  It was busy-work to appease politicians and a public who had only a half-assed idea of what teachers actually do.  It also allowed lazy and/or incompetent administrators to weasel out of their obligation to keep an eye on what it was their teachers were or were not doing.  I put no faith in “scrapbooks” as performance indicators and less faith in the idea that resolutions mean anything or are jump-starters for the majority.  They are mostly empty promises that make people feel better about themselves without having to really do anything.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Ah, no.  The mother of one of Dee’s soccer mates gave birth to a little boy in October, but I wouldn’t call her a close friend of mine.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

My great-auntie died. She was 102ish or maybe it was 103?  I can’t recall.  I wouldn’t say we were close.  She was the last man standing, so to speak, of the old generation and being so had litter upon litter of nephews, nieces and their children and their children’s children to claim matriarchal status over.  I get lost in that crowd.

A close friend of my parents died early this year too.  Again, not a close tie to me though at one time early in my life, I saw her more often than my own aunties.

5. What countries did you visit?

In 2011, the only country I visited was the United States.  We traveled through Montana, Wyoming, the Dakotas, Nebraska and Minnesota, and we caught up with friends and family in Iowa.

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?

Direction where my writing is concerned.  I have been at the whole “writing thing” for nearly five years and still haven’t found my niche, but I think I am closer to figuring at least some of it out than I was when I started.

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

Nothing specific comes to mind.  Overall, the year has been a good one in general without any major highs or lows.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

I was voted one of the top five mom bloggers in Canada – with a lot of help from my friends.  I scored a position on the city’s yoga teacher roster. My biggest achievement, and I don’t know if you can rightly call it that, is that I continue to be quite happy with my life, a five-year run which owes its longevity to those around me more than to anything I’ve done or not.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Well, my potato rolls were not the success I hoped they would be and the garden was a non-starter.  Probably not huge on the failure scale however.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

I came down with a bad case of costochondritis, which is an inflammation of the cartilage around the breastbone and ribs.  It plagued me for much of the year and I am still dealing with after effects.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

I didn’t buy, but I received an eReader from Edie and Mick for Christmas that is just magnificent.  I also got a smart phone from Rob for my birthday, which is proving useful.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Dee has grown up quite a bit, but I suppose that is to be expected of someone so young, and my brother, CB, seems to be reinventing himself with some purpose.

13. Whose behavior appalled you?

Appalling behavior seems to be the given in our world anymore.  No one in my life can lay claim, overmuch.  Anyone I know who tips beyond the pale has always done so and it’s ceased to surprise me in any long-lasting way.

We tried to eat out but couldn’t find a restaurant without a long wait list, so we ended up at Edie and Silver’s, eating take away from Boston Pizza and watching Elf.  I am 48.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

It would have been nice if I could have figured out a way to take over The Yoga Room after Jade decided to close it.  I had the chance but couldn’t figure out a way to do it financially or make it work within the confines of my personal life.  Owning and running my own yoga studio would have been sweet indeed.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?

Oh, it continues to be yoga mom-ish.

32. What kept you sane?

If a sanity check is needed, I get it from Rob. He’s a Virgo, the definition of sane.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Fancy? I don’t really pay that much attention to that sort of thing.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

The Occupy movement invigorated me for a while.  I went to a rally with Mick.  Donated to the OccupyEdmonton campsite. In the end though, I think they are simply just the other side of the coin where what is wrong is concerned. You can’t change anything without actually doing something tangible, getting your hands dirty, pitching in and tackling real issues with real solutions.

It doesn’t surprise me that a generation of young people accustomed to living virtually would think that all you need is words, Facebook and camping to change the world. The world bends only to those who take action, which they really aren’t doing. They are the future buck passers and obstacles and nothing more.

35. Who did you miss?

I’m not sure how to answer this, so I won’t.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

I didn’t meet anyone new in person and those I met virtually have each added to my life in different ways.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.

That you must accept those in your life for who they are right now or don’t bother with them. No one will ever live up to your idea of their potential, so don’t waste your time or theirs with such childish notions.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

It’s not a song lyric but it’s source is a singer.

“You can spend minutes, hours, days, weeks or even months over-analyzing a situation; trying to put the pieces together, justifying what could’ve, would’ve happened…
or you can just leave the pieces on the floor and move the fuck on.” – Tupac

Related articles

• What Are Your New Year’s Resolutions For 2012? (pinkbananaworld.com)
• New Year’s Resolutions: Three Things People Will Strive for in 2012 (inquisitr.com)