On The Nose: Contemplating My Goals & Word Of The Year For 2022

December 17, 2021 / Ally Bean / 221 Comments

Tigger under the Christmas tree. He has nothing specifically to do with this post but cute pink nose, eh?

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Bill at A Silly Place wrote a post, a challenge really, that got me thinking about what I’ll be doing next year. Thank you, Bill. You can read his post here and join his challenge if you so choose.

Consider yourself tagged.

Bill’s challenge is to forget about traditional formal New Year Resolutions, which I’ll admit have always seemed a bit overblown and idealistic to me.

Instead you commit to a few specific Goals that you monitor as the year goes along. It’s not as highbrow as declaring New Year Resolutions, but probably more doable because more pragmatic.

At least in my estimation.

While I usually shy away from anything that involves numbers, preferring to go with the wordy flow rather than mess with any dodgy numbers, I’m going to try this challenge because I am open-minded & curious.

My modest Goals are:

go for a walk five days a week;
cook four vegetarian meals each month;
donate three boxes of unwanted stuff to charity each month;
go on two vacations somewhere that is not here; and
read one book that is currently on our bookshelves each month.

But wait there’s more.

In keeping with my longstanding habit of deciding on a Word of the Year, while I pursue these numerically-based Goals I’ll implement my 2022 Word of the Year. It is how I shall do these things.

My word is ENJOY.

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Do you make New Year Resolutions?

Do you think that setting Goals, as opposed to making New Year Resolutions, is an intriguing way to state your intentions?

Do you pick a Word of the Year?

Keeping my 2022 Word of the Year in mind, what do you think of the *Christmas* music video below?

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This will be my last post of 2021. Happy Holidays everyone. See you next year.

The One About Not Seeking Machiavelli’s Approval

January 28, 2016January 28, 2016 / Ally Bean / 26 Comments

Here’s something fun for a Thursday morning…

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Sometimes failure is a good thing.

It would seem, if the result of this short personality test is to be believed, that I am no good at being ruthless and self-serving.

In fact, I am someone who Machiavelli would not approve of.

Yes, with a score of 42 out of 100, I got a F- in unethical behavior.

Meaning, I guess, that it’s time for me to do a bit of navel-gazing and align my chakras by paying heed to the random delightful wisdom found here.

Namaste.

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Snow Is Falling, Books Are Calling

January 12, 2016 / Ally Bean / 31 Comments

The snow has arrived. It’s falling like salt drifting down from the sky. Everything is covered in white, slightly sparkly.

Contented, I am enjoying the slow pace of Winter days.

Coinciding with the snow’s arrival is the end of mold and pollen, my archenemies. My eyes are feeling less itchy, and combined with prescription eye drops, I know longer look like a drunk rabbit. That is, my eyes aren’t pink & bloodshot, rimmed in red.

I’ll enjoy this itchy-eye respite for as long as it lasts, because I know that Spring weather will change everything.

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In the meantime I’m going to start reading for pleasure. I didn’t do much of that last year, for whatever reason. But this year, as I move forward, I’ve decided that I’m going to make a point of reading for pleasure, and I’m going to do it with a plan.

I’m following Modern Mrs. Darcy’s 2016 Reading Challenge as my guide. With one exception [“a book published this year”], I’m choosing my books from the piles of books that are strewn throughout our home.

To wit, my first book, which will satisfy the “a book you should have read in school” criteria, is: Footsteps in the Dark by Georgette Heyer.

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This may seem like an unusual choice, but when I was in college here in the USA majoring in English, I did my study abroad at the University of Exeter in Devon, England. My official independent research paper was on Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple series.

Georgette Heyer was a contemporary of Agatha Christie. Back then I didn’t have the time to read any Heyer mysteries, being forced as I was to focus on Miss Marple, star of 12 novels + 20 short stories.

But now, in light of this challenge, and with all the time in the month of January to make it happen, I’m going to read a Georgette Heyer mystery.

Just because I can.

The One About Kismet & Guidelines For A Contented Life

March 10, 2015March 10, 2015 / Ally Bean / 16 Comments

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OVER THE YEARS, like most introspective people who I know, I’ve adopted all sorts of different versions of what I call the rules of life.

And sometimes babbled about them on this blog.

WHILE I LIKE my rules of life and feel that they apply in general, I’m self-aware enough to know that I need something visual + succinct to encourage me to face each day with quiet resolve.

That’s where I believe practical guidance comes into the picture.

LATELY I’VE BEEN following the ideas that you see in the above photo; I call them guidelines for a contented life. I don’t know who wrote them, but when I first read them while browsing in T.J. Maxx, a discount store that I rarely go into, I liked them.

Now I ask you, what could be better than stumbling upon inspiration on sale?!

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