Happy New Year! :)

As you may know from one of my previous postings, in 2011 I had my 50th birthday. I was trying to think of something special to do in order to more fully celebrate that lovely life marker, but couldn’t come up with anything that felt quite right. Then I heard a woman talking in a class I was taking, although unfortunately I did not catch her name so I might properly credit her. She told us about her 69th birthday present to herself: to do 69 new things she’d never done before, in the following year. That, I thought, was perfect! In this, my 50th year, I am going to celebrate by trying 50 new things I have never done before.

I’ve started a page for the 50 things, with those actually accomplished in bold — and sometimes with photos! I’m including possible things to try in italics, and I’d love to hear suggestions from you all as well. For now, I’m three down on the list already: I’ve learned to use a vinyl cutting machine, I’ve started participating in kiva microfinancing (thanks so much for the Solstice gift card, Waya!), and I’ve gone kayaking with manatees. Both were great fun!

With a bit of math, I can see I’ll need to do about five new things each month, to have completed my goal by next October the 5th. I’m really looking forward to accomplishing this! It’s going to be a great year. Best wishes to you and yours for the upcoming year as well; namaste! :)