2011 has arrived. It's a new year. I LOVE celebrating time. I am a big fan of getting older and doing birthdays up big. But also celebrating new years and growth seasons and all of that kind of thing. I love circles and cycles and things that begin and end simultaneously. Life is about movement!
So you can tell I'm hyped right? I am!
2011 doesn't begin with new resolutions but with a declaration of a return to my previous Treat Myself Right Challenge. In 2011 we're going big or we're going home.
Therefore:
I challenge myself to read 1 fiction and one non-fiction book a month. AND to blog about it. Even if briefly.
Fiction List: Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Substitute Me by Lori L Tharps, Salt Eaters by Toni Cade Bambara, Going Down South: A Novel by Bonnie Glover, Strangers In Paradise: Pocketbook 2 by Terry Moore, Can't Help the Way That I Feel by Lori Bryant-Woolridge, Tank Girl Vol 1 (remastered) by Alan C. Martin (Jamie Hewlett), The Gilda Stories: A Novel by Jewelle Gomez, The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkins, The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, Babylon sisters by Pearl Cleage, and (+1) Glorious by Bernice L. McFadden.
Nonfiction List: A Movement in Black by Pat Parker, Living as a Lesbian by Cheryl Clarke, The Truth That Never Hurts: Writings on Race, Gender and Freedom by Barbara Smith, For Colored Girls Who've Considered Suicide\When the Rainbow is Enuff by Ntozake Shange, To Be Young Gifted and Black by Lorraine Hansberry, Foxy: My Life in Three Acts by Pam Grier, Men Like That: A Southern Queer History by John Howard, Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things by Randy O. Frost, Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought by Melissa Harris-Perry, Racism without Racist by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, Private Lives, Proper Relations: Regulating Black Intimacy by Candice M. Jenkins, I Got Thunder: Black Women Songwriters on Their Craft edited by LaShonda Katrice Barnett, and (+1) Butterfly McQueen Remembered by Stephen Bourne.
I challenge myself to take better care of my physical body. I am therefore: creating and sustaining hair care regimen, creating and sutaining a skin care regimen, committing to my getting a physical, getting tested for HIV/STIs, gaining five pounds.
I challenge myself to take care of my mental/emotional well-being. I am therefore: going to meditate for five minutes a day, journal frequently (at least once a day), attend therapy, get back on my medication regimen, schedule at least three hours of self-care time in my week, talk openly and honestly with my advocate in the office of students with disabilities about my needs for school.
I challenge myself to grow deeper relationships with those around me. In 2011 I'm going to invest time and effort into finding a romantic relationship of love, passion, and acceptance NOT of convenience. I will also commit to writing friends and family more often (it's easier for me than emails and the point is communication.)
I challenge myself to give my life over more fully to God. I want to pray more. Either spend an hour on Sunday in church or reading my Bible. I want to work seriously to find a community of faith while I am in Los Angeles. I don't necessarily need to surround myself with like minded Christians but I do want a community of people who are spiritually intentional in my life.
I want to do more work for God. Service (as in within the community) is work for God. And I want to do more of it. I feel so refreshed when I do God's work (and let God work through me.) My major service commitments for this year will be to the Black Alums of Smith College, the Lambda Grad Students Network, and I want to find one organization in Los Angeles where I can donate time to at least once a month.
I am putting a lot of my plate in 2011. But the point of having high expectations is not to berate yourself for your shortcomings but to dream big about your successes.
What are your plans in 2011? Making any resolutions/challenges? Do you hate that whole conversation? Let me know.
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