2010
Rather then commit to meaningless resolutions for 2010, here are my goals instead:
Eating out less and at home more. I spent most of my life eating out at least two days a week. While the food is amazing in downtown Lawrence, my eating habits have not changed enough. It’s expensive to eat out every day not to mention multiple meals a day.
Eating healthier.
Get back in shape and run more. I loved running in 2008 and this year I’ve basically ignored running. After hurting my hip, I struggled with running this year. My first year running I had over a hundred miles in and last year I barely had 30 to 40 miles.
Change my sleeping habits. I switched from being a night owl to be an early morning person for a few months and I want to return to this cycle. Going to be by 11pm or midnight and getting up at 5:30am or 6am felt right to me. It gave me more balance and me time in the morning which made everything flow better.
Get a passport. I’m not sure if this will be the year that I leave the country and travel to Europe or not but I’d like to get the ballrolling at least.
Become a better photographer (see below):
Read more. My profession forces me to read all of the time but I really don’t enjoy or make time for reading books. This is kind of sad and I need to work on it.
Write more and become a better writer. The only way to become a better writer is to read and write more.
Buy a tablet PC. I want a tablet that I can take with me and do all the things that make me less productive while I’m on my Macs.
Open up some my web projects and start becoming a better citizen.
Finally release my website in the form that I want people to see.
Become a better web designer and work on my creative side. I love programing but most of my interests for quite some time have been more design focused. Back in college, I took animation and a few art classes but I didn’t feel like I had the raw talent. Looking back, I was just more interested in being a developer. Now that I’ve been a developer for the last ten years, it’s time that I become more rounded.
Move downtown and into a loft. Living on the west side of town has it’s ups and downs but I want to be in the middle of everything that’s going on.
Re-evaluate life in Lawrence. I love living in Lawrence but the last few months have had me rethinking where my place is and where I belong. I used to feel like I should be closer to home so this was far enough away yet close enough that I could drive back home. I’m not a big city person but I’ve honestly never tried. Maybe I am but I just have experienced it enough to know yet. Maybe two years is enough living some place. The last few weeks have opened my eyes up and it has changed how I look at the people in my life.
Be more social with the people I meet. When I went to PyCon and SXSW last year, I was simply overwhelmed. I met some really great people but overall I felt out of place. Large social groups aren’t my thing but I need to get over this and make better connections with people.
Consult more and work less.
Photography goals:
Start a 52 week photography project. I’ve done a 365(366 because of leap year) project which taught me how to be a much better photographer.
Buy a proper flash for my camera and learn to work with light.
Take a photo essay class. Most likely this spring at the Lawrence Arts Center.
Experiment with print. This begins by simply getting some photos printed and start working with larger formats.
Longer term goals:
Have my first adventure. Emphasis on an adventure that involves a passport. For years I’ve thought about buying an Airstream and traveling for three months while documenting the experience. There are definitely a lot of costs and overhead with buying an Airstream so I’m not going to let that limit my goal. Just getting away for a week and working on a project that involves simply enjoying life sounds amazing to me.
Speak at a conference. Speaking in front of a large group of people scares the hell out of me. When I worked in Joplin I’ve had to do it a few times and it was fine. Now I’ve gotten so out of habit that speaking in front of four to six people in a room makes me visibly nervous. This is a shame but I’d love to seek out an opportunity to talk about a subject that I’m passionate about. There are definitely areas that I can speak about for hours on end. Showing my work in my photography class helped me melt the ice a bit and by the end I was being asked questions for 20 to 30 minutes per classroom and I wasn’t even thinking twice about it. This is one fear that I want to conquer.
