I didn’t make any New Year’s resolutions for 2013. I’m a sucker for resolutions, but once a year isn’t enough for me – you could say I’m something of a revolving resolver. The fact that New Year’s resolutions are infamous for being unkept has caused me to shy away from them. It’s as though writing out my resolutions on January 9th rather than December 31st means that I’m making them for their own sake, rather than because I’ve fallen prey to the temptation of seeing the new year as clean slate. But in truth, I was tempted. I love starting things. (It’s finishing them I’m not so good at.)

So, in much the same way that we heathens celebrate a Non-Religious Winter Holiday instead of Christmas, I’ve replaced my New Year’s Resolutions with some Goals for Their Own Sake. I’m not going to share them all here, for various reasons. If I share my goals I tend to get weird about them, as though the people I have told about them are somehow pressuring me to come through, and I get resentful and give up. (Yeah, it’s messed up. Welcome to my brain.) Also, some of my goals are health-related, and I feel like if I put them out there people will conflate me trying to be healthier with me trying to lose weight, which is not happening. During the times in my life when I have, for whatever reason, lost weight, people have gone wild with the compliments and it makes me feel so gross. Their enthusiasm for “new me” betrays the distaste they had for “old me.” They don’t seem to realize we’re the same person. So I like to keep my health goals close to my chest, at least for now. Maybe this will change; who knows?

Of course, one of my goals is posting here more often. And this is definitely one of those goals I find dangerous to make resolutions about, because feeling pressured to post is the last thing I want. Sometimes it’s just more important for me to hang out with my family or go outside and play. But I’ve had this blog for almost five years, and though I haven’t really done much with it, I like having it around. I’ve been thinking about ways to make it easier and more fun, like posting when I’ve finished a book, sharing my favorite Instagram photos (because yes, I still do love Instagram), trying projects or activities with the Grey, and so on. I’m trying not to build up a lot of pressure for myself about it, but I do hope I can follow through with this.

In honor of New Year’s resolutions, Goals for Their Own Sake, and unfinished projects that linger, here’s a satirical infomercial about procrastination I made for the ToDo Institute last year. I hope you accomplish all you set out to do in 2013!