The aims for this new year are giving me more clarity to raise myself this year. Sharing them with others on a public platform is re-affirming commitment to myself. And it will be fun to check back with the progress I make at the end of the year (considering how much I have bragged about the last year's intentions working out!).
- Learn to write in cursive. I have always loved how beautiful cursive looks, but have always struggled to read them and never considered to learn. Since I have been digging into Montessori methods, I have learned the neurological benefits of cursive writing. There lied my inspiration, to learn them and to teach them. J already knows his prints, we are going to take a backwards route but it will be a fun thing to learn together for sure.
- Get rid of clutter and get more organized. The Montessori mantra of 'There is place for everything and everything has a place' is my reminder everyday. Living in a small (Texas standards, not New York, hell, that will be our bedroom only!, a real struggle to cope, oops!) apartment feels like a bliss at this time, as there is less to clean or may be it fills up so quickly, I need to find ways to go through what to keep and what to depart from. Good mind exercise as I have to get over my emotions to the things. Byproduct is emotional independence, ahem ahem!
- Simplify and slow down. The great invention of Internet has it's personalities, good and evil (Am I learning it just now?). It has a lot to inspire and guide through, with abilities to distract and get lost into. Oh dear Pinterest, I love you as much as I am afraid of you. Sometimes those inspirations have made me take trips to Target to check out their Dollar spot, the higher version of Dollar Tree and part of Walmart (Target makes it look a lot better). Anyway, after a year of doing so, I am learning to get creative, using pen, paper, sharpie, pair of scissors, etc to make things simple without spending time, energy and imagination of that purchase in my head, how J would enjoy the activities which sometime stays there forever and he doesn't look beyond opening the package. So the aim is to simply spend time together, enjoy low paced days and learn in creative ways.
- Love without judgement. The trap of judging people without knowing them was not letting me see myself very clearly, I mean I would get mad if someone would judge me (and I come to know about it), though I never thought about it the other way round. Last year I met some beautiful people, who were so very welcoming and open minded, patient and amazingly good listeners (tolerating the talkative me is not easy). They have inspired me to commit to this intention this year deeply.
- Be myself and rock it. The pure Gujarati street food, 'Bhel' I made at a party that was dominant by Americans, I was super excited for them to taste my home town dish (By the way, I love Texans' love for everything hot and spicy). Oh, I was sinking when people started to come around the serving area, looking at my dish (I knew, I screwed up with presentation + thinking of a street food at a party - which is loved at even weddings in India though) and passing by without picking up the plate, looking at it with strange eyes. Then came this mom, who probably got my feelings, asked me how to put it together, I showed and boy! everybody was suddenly interested and loving it, I was asked for recipes. I realized, there is no need to change to blend in, people are very accepting of others as they are and of-course their food.
- Read. Reading for J has changed my way of choosing a book for myself as well. I am forever grateful for the libraries in the US. I mean such a treasure they contain for everyone and about every topic. This year I intend to read at least one book per month for myself. Period. The list must include books by Janet Lansbury and RIE philosophy (I am falling in love with), Maya Angelou and Robin Sharma. I never accepted that one should ever raise a child by reading about it in a book and I was TOTALLY wrong. A book can simply give another perspective, offer another way to solve an issue, another reason to raise beyond self, another idea to implement, another commitment to make, another dream to dream, another hand to hold, another reminder to be and to live fully.
- Choose kind words. Terry Ryan notes her moms words in her book, The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio, "There are so many interesting words to use, alone or in combination, that I don't know why anyone would fall back on one-syllable obscenities ('Negative words' - as I read it)." Being an emotional person, I always used to sink down at every occasion of sad words used for me, almost forgetting there are so many kind words people in my life have described me with. So the decision is made to model J of a kind person, who knows how to use right words with gratitude toward life and people called friends, family and strangers.
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