07 Saturday Jan 2023
Posted in Art, Mammals, New Year's Resolutions, Reflections, watercolor, Wild animals
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By the first dawn of the new year, all the stars shine in the squeegeed sky over the range and the morning is pale blue and golden, and pronghorn run in wet wilted grass. – Anna Badkhen
The pronghorn is the fastest land animal in North America – second fastest in the world next to the African cheetah. The pronghorn’s speed, grace, and agility are my inspiration for moving through the challenges of this coming year.
24 Monday Jan 2022
Posted in Finances, New Year's Resolutions, Reflections, Travel
They must retrench; that did not admit of a doubt. But she was very anxious to have it done with the least possible pain to him and Elizabeth. She drew up plans of economy, she made exact calculations. from Persuasion by Jane Austen
I am getting down to business trying to figure out how to execute my revised New Year’s Resolutions. It isn’t enough to wish for them to happen, plans have to be made, especially if travel is involved.
I knew a man who unabashedly spent thousands of dollars every year fulfilling his New Year’s Resolutions list. He was a last-minute-man and top-notch all the way – be it first class travel or uber expensive purchases – you name it! The envy of all his friends, he appeared to have a life of abundance that was only attainable by the super rich. The catch was that he couldn’t afford his extraordinary lifestyle and ended up accumulating massive debt. But, time after time, he appeared to pull a rabbit out of the hat, begin anew, and look forward to his next year’s list. I have always wondered just how he did it.
I envied his lavish lifestyle. My lifestyle has been one of frugality. I have achieved certain New Year’s Resolutions over the years but they have come with a lot of planning as I am not at all comfortable with debt. I always have a budget and stick to it. And so, the sights I hope to see on my travels this year will be of the sublime, and those are the only excesses that I desire.
13 Thursday Jan 2022
Posted in New Year's Resolutions, Photography, Reflections
If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools;
from If by Rudyard Kipling
I have already run into events that have knocked almost all of my New Year’s Resolutions completely off-track. I didn’t expect to accomplish every goal over the next fifty weeks, but I did not expect so many things to happen that were completely beyond my control.
And so I take a moment and think. There are things I cannot control, so…what? Should I create a list of lesser goals? No, that is not at all satisfying – I was planning for an epic year, not a mediocre one. I can envision what I want to accomplish, perhaps I just need to take a different path to that goal than the one I had originally planned. And that new path may hold undiscovered joys and opportunities!
I resolve to continue the journey that I started, but along a different path.
Model: Lauren DiMarco
31 Friday Dec 2021
I make no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, of criticizing,
sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me. Anaïs Nin
At the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, I open my front door and let the old year out and welcome the New Year in. It is a moment of complete purity, betwixt the two years – 2022 about to begin, with no mistakes in it (yet). There is yearning, an expectant pause about what all the year might have to offer.
Unlike Anaïs Nin, I make resolutions each New Year to form a structure from which to flourish. And so, with great excitement, I face another beginning, when all things are possible!
May your New Year be all that it can be for you, too! Happy 2022!
Model: Khrystyana Kazakova
28 Tuesday Dec 2021
Posted in Father, New Year's Resolutions, Photography, Reflections, Relationships, Winter
Success consists of going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm. – Winston Churchill
My father loved sports and games. He was a fierce competitor and exuberant victor. I revered him and from a very young age wanted to get in on the action. I knew that I would never beat him at the chosen sport or game, but it was thrilling just to be in his realm while I played opposite him. He didn’t believe in throwing a game or giving handicaps – if I were to win, it would have to be a completely unambiguous victory.
As the years went on, I accepted defeat – most of the time it was utter defeat, complete annihilation, actually. But in my teens I figured out a way to play against him that became enjoyable. Rather than concentrate on the final outcome, always defeat for me, I played by point spreads. To my surprise, I actually got better at the sports and games and wanted to play more often. I became a warrior and found enjoyment in the challenge! I never did beat him at any sport or game but I always had a good time.
After reviewing my 2021 New Year’s Resolutions, I realized that I had completed only three of the thirty listed. Hardly a victory. But I had a good time trying and I am actually further ahead than this time last year. I now have another list for 2022 – do I really think that I will complete it? No. But I will enjoy the challenge!
Photo by David Dodds
Satin & Sand 