And So it Begins...

Ever been inspired by one of those TED talks?  Yeah, me too.  Most recently, Matt Cutts' "Try something new for 30 days" really tripped my trigger (that may be directly related to the viewing of said video just two days before the start of 2012 (APOCALYPSE!) and thoughts of "It's a new year!"  "Resolutions!"  "Big changes!" etc. were floating around in my Brain (from here on out, "Brain" will be capitalized because I think of it as a separate being and therefore, is a proper noun)).

Anyway.  Matt Cutts found himself stuck in a bit of a rut -- something I can relate to, having recently reached the tender age of 35, happy in my life, but not quite where I thought I'd be -- and took on the 30-day challenge in an attempt to shake things up a bit.  It seems to have worked for him, up there giving his TED talks an' all.

The task itself isn't important; it's merely the act of stepping outside of your comfort zone or the drudgery of your normal routine.  I've been hoping for/wanting a change in my life and rather than waiting for the Universe to plop something down on my doorstep (or "hallway" since I live in a high-rise), I'm going to do it my damn self.  Here's my tentative schedule for the next twelve months:

January:  Take a picture every day
February:  Make something and/or be creative every day (I'm taking an art class starting mid-Feb, which will fit in nicely with this task)
March:  Meditate (2 minutes or 2 hours, as long as I do it)
April:  No shopping, at all (excluding food and toilet paper, of course)
May:  No eating out (I'll eat at someone's house, but not in a restaurant)
June:  Walk 100 miles
July:  No TV (this includes Netflix, Hulu, etc.)
August:  Daily dancing (dancing in my living room totally counts)
September:  Eat vegetarian (bacon, I miss you already)
October:  Try a new food (or a recipe if I run out of food ideas), daily
November:  Learn something new (a new word, a new cloud formation, how to solder properly, whatever)
December:  No SWEARING (fuuuuuuck)

You may ask, how is taking a picture every day or eating vegetarian going to change my life?  I have no idea.  It may not.  Maybe I'll feel exactly same on January 31st or December 31st as I do today, January 1st.  And that's ok.  I'm excited to have a new focus, a plan, a challenge, shit ... something new to talk about.

At the start of each month, I will discuss my Plan of Attack and the rules (that I will make up on the spot; the rules will be subject to change at my whim and discretion) for that month's task.  I fully anticipate some days (weeks, months) being much easier than others, and that will surely be reflected in my posts.  They're not all going to be winners, folks.