New Year's Resolution: Joy

Now that Christmas has come and gone, it is that time of year for new hopes, dreams and aspirations!  For me, 2016 is already a game changer.  I'm getting married in June and I'm going to India for two weeks in March. Huge stamps in my life passport!  I'm so excited for next year and what it will mean to have family and friends at our big day, I can't imagine what else is in store that I DON'T know about!

Granted, there are LOTS of things I'm always thinking about and psyched to pursue... :)

1) Online photography classes.
2) Work on a cookbook.
3) Re-open my Etsy shop.
4)  Overhaul and rework this tired blog.
5)  Print some pictures and submit to hang work at the gallery here in town.
6)  Write something that really makes me proud.
7)  Take voice lessons with Seester
8)  Etc, etc, etc

But if I were to nail down a goal or intention for 2016, it would be JOY.  Finding joy everywhere and in everything.  That makes life fun!  Being grateful.  Living in the moment. Creating because I love it.  Performing because I love it.  Cultivating relationships that I really care about. Being open to opportunities that scare me.  Being open to possibilities about myself that I didn't even know existed.  With absolutely no expectation in return.

Between wanting to be a working actor in LA and wanting my own business in Chicago, I have a tendency to 'drive' and 'accomplish myself' into burned out fatigue.  It's not fun.  Man, I had some serious expectations that led to some serious disappointments.

My jaw drops at the awareness that I manifested all the things I subconsciously ever wanted because I moved to the middle of nowhere for a summer job at a bakery.  Am I famous?  Am I loaded?  Nooooo.  :) But I only wanted fame and fortune for the financial freedom to be able to live creatively, have Christmas in the mountains and go on vacations!  Ha!  I already get to do that?  What else do I need?  (Okay, after the wedding, maybe a kitty... )  :)

So JOY is my 'goal' for the New Year.  Lightening up and having a sense of humor.  Not taking things so seriously.  Pursuing other goals or areas because it's FUN not because it's a part of a plan or something else I've got cooked up.

On my way to help a friend make chocolates for her business (FUN!!!), I snapped a few pictures with the new camera.  I finally got to research and play with the manual settings so the pictures here aren't taken on auto.  It was a glorious day out that morning... The pictures aren't perfect but I had a blast taking them! Hope you can see a smidge of what I saw in the day.  :)

What's new and important to you in 2016?

Happy New Year!
Mandi