Welcome 2012

Some years, I really enjoy "The Holidays" and can get in to them, feeling what they are all about.  I enjoy putting the tree up, sending out cards, having people over to catch up and share our hopes and thoughts for the new year.  And then some years, I can't wait for Christmas and New Year's to be over, so I can get to that new calendar.  Start fresh.  Wipe away all the crap from the previous year and move on.

This year, it's the latter.  I cannot wait to get to 2012.  There has been so much going on in 2011 that I feel sideswiped, bamboozled and dragged through a hedge backwards.  Twice.

There were the car repairs, totaling almost $2000; the trip to Denver to visit family; the Santa Ana windstorm that knocked out power for SIX DAYS; more car repairs; the back injury (which turns out was part back, part hip - damn you, iliopsoas muscle); the rain coming in the ceiling; the flood in the 2nd bathroom and utility room; the Pug slipping a disc... I could probably keep going, but you get the picture.

I don't think that I'm any different than anyone else when it comes to the problems department.  I know we all have stuff that comes up and we have to deal with.  Everybody's problems are different, but somehow the same.  Life is in session, and sometimes the session gets hairy.

For some reason, this year, it became really important to me and my husband for us to simplify our lives.  We looked around at what we had, and it was pretty darn great.  A great house (despite the aforementioned quirks), food to eat, a TV to watch - we had quality problems, when we really took a look.  However, we were grumpy, unfulfilled, sedentary and ungrateful.  I didn't like this.

I didn't like that we took each other for granted in a lot of ways.  Those small ingratitudes add up and erode respect and love faster than you realize.  And I really did not want that to happen.  So, after a sit-down with the hubby, we decided to act as if we didn't really have any disposable income to speak of.  We wanted to have to think, and really decide - together, whether we should purchase, keep, store, bring in to our home - anything other than ourselves.

That's what this blog is going to be about - those day-to-day decisions that we just do by rote, without even really contemplating the consequences.  For me, I'm a child of the 70s, and TV and advertising have had (and continue to have) a huge influence on me.  So, I'm pledging to really think about whether or not I need the Downy.  Or the Febreze. Or anything else that costs $5-10 and really doesn't improve how I feel about myself, or when you get down to it, make me a better human being.  That $100-120 a year could be put to so much better use.  And there are at least 25-30 things that each cost about that much that could be given up as well.    As a rough estimate, that's $3500 a year we could have to put towards a down payment on a house, or a car, or for charity, or anything else we put our minds to.  I want to have that choice to what we do with our money.  By really thinking about and being honest as to whether or not we need this thing, I want to know myself better.  And to live more simply and honestly.  I want that freedom.

So... come on 2012!  I believe that the Mayans were talking about enlightenment, not destruction!  I am looking forward to changing the way I see inanimate objects, and opening myself up to new and deeper relationships with the people I love.  My wallet and my heart are going to thank me, I know that.  Let's just give it the chance.