Karma in Practice

I'm taking "you get what you give" to heart this year. Having already resolved to "be more conscientious" in 2015, I'm adding some goals, admittedly stolen from inspired by Kelsey Gryniewicz's post "15 Ways to Start 2015 with Kindness".

I'm not going with all 15 ideas, because let's be honest, change takes time and that's just too much kindness in one shot ;). I whittled it down to nine that really spoke to me, two of which will look familiar (and I've kept up with!!!).

1. Year of Kindness Box - the idea is to fill up the box with things like thank you notes (Who writes those any more? Sadly, hardly anyone), compliments received (I can't believe I already have something for the box), moments of kindness witnessed or done, inspiring quotes, etc. Then I get to review at the end of the year or any time I'm having an off day. (side note: hello artsy-crafty project!)
2. Create a Gratitude Journal - well you've already seen this on my resolutions list. I'm glad I went with doing a weekly journal instead of a daily, because I've already failed on my other daily aspirations. Much easier to set aside 5-10 minutes once a week, instead of a few minutes every day. I know, lazy me.

   

   Simi's Weekly Gratitude Journal - 2015

3. Three Compliments - Compliment the first three people you talk to. If I stuck to the first three, it would always be my family. I think I do this any way, but it won't hurt to be more conscientious about it.
4. 52 Thank You Notes - Write a thank you note every week to a different person. I've "missed" the first two, but I'll definitely be doing this all year. And no email business. I picked up cute thank you cards from Target (a lot of them!) before I even read about or considered this "challenge." Thank you fate.
5. Daily Positivity - Every day, think of a random person. Send them a positive positive message (text, email, social media post, phone call, letter, etc.). This is another one of those I'm sure I do this every day without thinking about it, but, again, it'll be good to put some real thought into it on a daily basis. Putting positive energy in the world should only mean that positive energy comes back, if Newton was really, really right ;).
6. Volunteer - Another one that had already been on my list. Now to figure out how to accomplish this.
7. Smile - Smiling is all sorts of good for you: release of endorphins, boost your immune system, and more. Say cheese!
8. Self-Kindness - Do one kind thing every week for yourself - enjoy a treat you love, exercise, do something you love and rarely have time to do. For now, this is going to be my Art/Craft project of the week. If and when that becomes a part of my routine, I'll move on to something new. 

Now, to figure out what my bad habits are and which one to break. Introspection is hard! Who's going to help me with this one? ;)

Where has 2014 gone!?

Resolutions for 2014

1.      Strengthen myself educationally and career-wise

2.      Cook more – there’s mom’s collection of recipes to learn, plus so many recipe books that are just lying in the basement, collecting dust.

3.      Tap into my creative side more: painting, writing, dancing, photography, and whatever else I can get into.

4.      Learn a new skill – always, always, always!

5.      Go on a vacation. I’d originally wanted to go on 2-2, but for now I’ll settle for one vacation.

6.      Read more!

7.      Blog more (haha, what an inspiring start!)

8.      Cross off 1 item from my bucket list. I tend to avoid this as a resolution, but I think 2014 is the year to achieve something!

This year has positively flown, with no by your leave or excuse me. I swear it was May just yesterday, and here we are saying hello to September already. It doesn't make any sense. I didn't cook more (oops, #2), I didn't blog at all (sorry #7), and the only dent I've made in my creative exploration (#3) is stockpiling canvasses and paint as if it’s my job (I’m such a shopaholic!). I’d cross off a bucket list item (#8), if I could only find my bucket list (I swear I lose more stuff when I clean). I have done a fair amount of reading, exploring new authors and genres (#6, you can breathe). And I do still have 3 months to redeem myself, so maybe 2014 won’t be a complete wash. Four out of eight…is that a new record low for me?

This has been my first year as a non-student. Hello adulthood. I’m doing well at work (really well, thankfully). I've gotten a certification that makes my resume look a little prettier, and gives me useful skills that I apply to my work (#1 and #4, check and check).

I’d been working out pretty intensively in the first half of the year. That, coupled with a round or two of juicing helped me drop some weight and get healthier. Score for a non-resolution win! Side effect of working out: my back is busted again. Between doctors, meds, and physical therapy, I've been better, more functional for the past couple of years. But at the beginning of this summer I could feel my back reacting the same way that it had in 2012. Long story short, I was smart this time and went to a chiropractor right away. (More about that experience later…I promise!) Three months later, I’m doing much better, though still not optimal, and definitely not back to a state where I can be working out.

Which kinda sucks because we’re going to India in October (knocked #5 out of the park!). I’ll be going back after 10 years. Holy! I would have loved to be more in shape, but hey ho, this is my lot and I’m choosing to accept it instead of wishing and regretting. It’ll be a fairly long trip, with stops along a few places in northern India. I’m really looking forward to spending time with my Nana-Nani, meeting relatives I've never even heard of, and shopping. There’s an army celebration that we will be attending; it will be interesting to meet my contemporaries. Hello awkward times? Maybe it’ll be good times. *fingers crossed*

Despite the rushed feeling, there have been plenty of good times in 2014 - my "Jar o' Good Stuff" is so stuffed I've had to expand. I've been to three baby showers, which is exactly three more than I've ever been to. One ladies sangeet. One wedding reception. A few graduations. A birthday party that involved a belly dancer. A birthday party that involved a toddler. A random party that involved an uncle insistently serving everyone alcohol – now that was awkward! I made friends with kids who are now grownups, and observed grownups who have behaved worse than children. My social life has been entertaining (okay, more accurately, it’s my parents’ social life. In my defense, my friends are scattered around the world – Atlanta, Toronto, Chicago, San Diego, India, Croatia…just a tiny bit hard to get together with these peeps from Albany, NY). I’m getting involved in…what do adults call extracurricular activities? Whatever it’s called, I’m doing more of that. The balance is definitely tipped to the positive side in 2014.

I just have to get cracking on the rest of my resolutions now, so ta!

My Summer Days 2013

My holidays somehow end up being busier than regular "working" semesters. Go figure.

I had just about one free week, and then all this started:

1) Two online classes - both four weeks long, both reading intensive. Past experience with summer classes did not prepare me for this!

2) Summer internship - Unpaid summer internship. My last internship was more work oriented, but it was a paid internship. Since this is for college credit, so far it's been more classes and more READING!

This is not the sort of reading I had planned on doing this summer. At least I get college credit at the end of it all (hopefully) ...?

3) Freelance writing job - (thank you craigslist.) I get to interview local business people and do write-ups. My first article just published ... SUPER excited to join a family history of published writing.

Life has a funny way of coming full circle. When I'd started majoring in English I'd been warned to avoid journalism because it was not lucrative or glamorous. Well, this isn't glamorous, but it's my only source of money for the time being.

There are other things that keep me busy. Searching for, applying for, and praying for another (unpaid!) internship for the fall. This will be a guaranteed 3 credits towards my major. All this unpaid business ... I'm consoling myself with a) I'll be learning new skills and exploring something new b) It'll be a good experience to put on the resume and c) The networking possibilities are fantastic. Somewhere between 8 hours of internship, 6 hours of class work, 6 hours of sleep, 2 hours of getting ready/eating/taking a breath, I'm squeezing in chores like sorting through years worth of memories and junk in order to clear up space in the house, contacting people for regular communications, showering, searching for a real paying job, reading for pleasure, blogging, establishing a professional net-presence, catching up on shows/youtube, learning new things, and spending quality time with the family. (If you do the math, the last litany of things is accomplished in a 2 hour window.)

Plans Are For Amateurs

What I'd intended to do this summer:

1) Get through my mom's recipe diary - it's got well over 100 recipes and I wanted to make as many as possible.

2) Try a new recipe a week from the myriad of cookbooks we've collected over the years, but never actually used.

3) Read. Specifically, FREE read things that have been sitting on my to-read and to-re-read list for ages!

4) Take up a photo-project.

5) Digitize all the old print photos.

6) Clean and organize various parts of the house because they need an overhaul.

7) Write! I really wanted to get into the habit of writing on a daily basis, but I'm lucky if I catch a proper sleep on a daily basis.

8) Pick up a new skill/learn something new. This will happen by the way at the internship, but I'd been thinking of something a little less work-oriented.

9) Paint ... I'd finally gotten some surge of inspiration. Now I have a muse running lose in my head and no time to let her express herself on canvas.

10) Travel. This would have been a great time to do a family trip, but now even the weekends are booked with papers for these stupid classes.

What's that saying? We plan and God laughs...