Thoughts on 2011

I feel like I'm a bit behind on gathering thoughts on the past year, but I've been meaning to do this, and I am currently without a journal/notebook, so I'll get personal and share it here.


Last year, I rung in the new year at home with Charlie. We wore pajamas, ordered a pizza, watched movies, and indulged in our reclusive nature, but it was wonderful and probably the best new years eve I had ever had. The low key, hermit celebration really set the standard for the whole year, as I mainly rejected most social happenings, since I learned hanging out at home with myself and my cat was so much fun. Despite my loser-at-home-all-weekend year still a lot of important things happened. 


I have a few resolutions this year, which is a change, since in previous years I felt too nervous to state annual goals, with the fear of completely failing at them and just being embarrassed for saying them out loud after said predicted failure. I tried to think this years plans through a bit more, so that they would be actually achievable and worthwhile. 

• I really want to focus on being content. This resolution applies to almost all aspects of my life. I am really prone to suddenly feeling like I need to change things, whether it's my job, where I live, my wardrobe, or hair color. I get really impulsive with this matter, which is why I have had six different jobs this year, and four apartments, and five different hair colors. I don't think there's anything wrong with changing things up, I just need to be more healthy about it.

• I would like to lose the weight I have put on since I started college. The freshman 15 was a very real thing in my life, and since after May of this year I will no longer be a college student, I would like to shed the extra baggage and pounds I've collected over the past 3.5 years. I still am not entirely sure how I will approach this goal since I don't particularly enjoy working out, and my relationship with food is constantly fluctuating, but I think it needs to happen so I can start feeling positive about my appearance instead of the constant ups and downs I have.

• I want to spend less money on new things. Since I know that I won't be able to completely get rid of the problem I addressed in resolution one, I would like to start spending less money on new clothes, home accessories, technology, ect. It just isn't worth the cost, especially with my ever changing styles and opinions.

• In 2011 I finally started accepting that I was actually ok at this whole art thing, and for 2012 I want to really collect the sprouting bits of confidence I have regarding my work and put it out there, proudly displaying it. I actually AM a photographer, and should start using the skill. I AM a good graphic designer and digital artist. I made a blog this year to start sharing my thoughts, which was a big step, then I made a flickr where I first showed some of my photos to the world which was a stressful event. I also started posting it here and just yesterday I created a a society6 page. This year I want to use it a ton more, and show off my other work too. If you need a photographer or graphic designer, come to me. I am qualified and good and can work.

• I graduate in May and I really really want to set the goal for me to find a job that somehow utilizes my degree. I worked as a leasing agent this summer, yes, a leasing agent, and I almost always hated it, despite constantly trying to convince myself otherwise. After I have put so much time and money into my education in art, I cannot let something like that happen. Even if it is part-time, even if it is freelance, it's just something I need to make happen.

• I also resolve to put more time into friendships. In 2011 I felt pretty skeptical towards the whole concept of "friends" and was just ready for a break. I had that break, and now it is time for me to start nurturing the great friendships I do/did have, after spending a year neglecting them. 

• Another resolution is to start documenting my life a bit more through photographs, journaling, even just saving mementos of the spectacular, or just wonderfully ordinary happenings in my days. This is sort of a continuation of something I have been working on over the last year or so, which is getting back to the things I used to care so much about. Up until january of 2009 I used to compulsively journal my thoughts and observations and make lists, and paperclip in all the extras, and I have the collections of notebooks to prove it. Then for whatever reason things just sort of changed. I became a school zombie, and went to class, ate, and slept, and sort of forgot to care about all those other things. Now I am happy again, and have better thoughts and insight, and have the time, so it's an important thing for me to follow through with. I think I was more mentally refined then as well. Writing helped me articulate my thoughts and I seem to have lost some of that ability. I already have my new notebook picked out. Look at it here, pretty cute, right? 

• My last resolution is a little less meaningful, but I want to start introducing myself as Lu to people. My closest friends, family, and boyfriend already know me by that alias since I have had that nickname pretty much since birth, and I really like it. It's interesting and fits me in a way that the name Lindsay can't compete with. Obviously I do not care when people call me Lindsay, I just really like Lu. To follow through with this resolution, I think I will use Lu when I make my business cards and design/photo website.

Ok, so that was a whole lot about me. Wow, I will not be offended if this doesn't really get read, it's ok. Does anyone have any resolutions to share with me?

Thanks for being friends, and making me feel like someone cares with the pageviews and occasional comments.

Hey look! It's me! Driving and being happy on a sunny September day in 2011.

Lu