New Year Conclusions

It's that time of year. For the past week everybody has been recapping and counting down. The best and worst news stories, victories, tragedies, best and worst dressed, political flubs, and a million news stories, famous faces and memorable moments.

For me it's been a very transformative year. I think this is the year I became myself. I guess I always was myself, but I never really knew who that was. It took this year, and the events within it, to teach me.

This year has been HUGE for me in spiritual terms. My understanding of life, spirituality, the gods and faith have expanded beyond any expectation I might have had for myself. I became an avid listener to Glenn Beck and in August attended his Restoring Honor Rally in Washington DC. That has been, by far, one of the most memorable experiences of my life.

My personal path has evolved from being just a Roman-oriented Pagan into a learning Kitchen Witch. Always a Daughter of Artemis, I've welcomed the influence and wisdom of Hathor into my world. This is the most recent evolution in my path and I've just begun to imagine the possibilities that will come of it.

As of today, I finished reading The Red Book by Sera Beak. Fantastic read, and if you're at all interested, even a little bit, in igniting your divine spark, I highly recommend it. One of my "goals" for the coming year is to add a lot of improvements to this blog, including a list of some of my favorite books. The Red Book is decidedly one of many.

Other improvements I'm hoping to make around here include self hosting, independent advertising, better organization and of course fantastic new content. Let's just say I have ideas. Lots of them. Some of which include a pig's head, but I'm not going to say any more than that. If my one-year history is of any indication, you're in for a treat. Let's recap, shall we?

We've visited blood sausage, aphrodisiacs, beef tongue and pickled eggs. I put a roadkill deer in the trunk of my Jetta and ate coyote. Offal, pickling, attempting to garden and starting a mealworm farm. I made cheese, including accidental mozzarella once. I went to Forest Folk, Wickerman, hosted Boarfest and joined the Ithaca Crop Mob. Fiddleheads, milkweed and knotweed, wine and kombucha.

Wow... it's been a busy year!

Oh, and did I mention I'm in a magazine!? The December issue of Experience L!fe magazine I'm featured in their "How I Did It" section, Getting Fit the Playful Way, for my 125 lb weight loss. For a small town girl like me, that's amazing.

So with all that's happened through the year, how can I possibly top it in 2011? I have no idea. Besides the improvements on the blog, I'm praying for the ability to get some reconstructive surgery to remove unwanted skin left over from the weight loss, and with any luck I'd like to go back to school in the fall to set a foundation for a career in fitness and nutrition. I'd like very much to teach people to have the success I've been blessed to enjoy. With all hope 2011 will be ever more impressive than the last year has been.

Most of all, 2011 is to be enjoyed, whatever may come of it. Life is too important to be taken seriously, says Oscar Wilde, and I wholeheartedly agree. I recognize how much I've taken myself and my life much too seriously. I'm not making resolutions for New Years, but I am going to make an attempt to see the humor in all things, including those that seem the most serious.

Happy New Year everyone. May it be the beginning of a year of change, health, prosperity, abundance and joy.