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It’s 2009. What does that mean? Most of us aren’t sure yet. Most of us are hoping it means a new beginning; a way to start over after a tumultuous 2008, a way to climb back on top after being knocked down by a lot of things that seemed out of our control. That’s what resolutions are, anyway. A way to take back control, a way to redefine your life by rules that you — not your boss, your family, your bank account — set.

Recently, I asked the wonderful, beautiful writers of C&D what their New Year’s resolutions were. The responses were overwhelming and inspiring. Join in on the conversation! Let us know what you’re going to accomplish in the next 365 days.

Our Resolutions

Cori P: My New Years Resolution is a three pronged affair! I plan on skyrocketing my income through my online efforts in 2009 and also getting the fit, fabulous body I have been telling myself I deserve the past two months. I am also going to pursue my singing and no longer going to let life and other people’s needs take precedence over my own! Here is to a rockin’ 2009!

Lucia F: To work towards doing padangustasana, a yoga “toe stand” with ease.

Carolyn P: I resolve to become a better listener. I am currently a not-too-shabby listener. But as listening is a meditation, I’d like to really work on being present for my friends and loved ones when they express themselves. Unless they are talking about cars. Then all bets are off.

Camilla O: Go into a new Goddess stage – which means more beautiful lingerie, more dresses and less jeans (jeansgirl has to go), more high heels and less sneakers, more time for long baths, skin care, massages, pedicures…I deserve it!

Keep my head high, back straight, thoughts pure and my heart on fire in this turbulent time. Hello Aquarius!

Read less and write more…following the advice of Julia Cameron in The Artist Way, “It’s your job to do the work, not judge the work.”

Pro Libertate – swing my sword with words, with my heart, with my pen…for inner freedom.

Lindsey L: To practice letting go and going easy on myself if I don’t keep a New Year’s resolution.

Kerry M: 2009 is lightly treading up our driveway…getting ready to make her grand entrance and I’m not sure I want to let her in…

It will be a year of great change for us with another move and a new home to build, new work to tackle and big adjustments for my boys. Last year I started a blog and a journey for simplicity. Seeking truth and beauty in everyday moments with my family and friends. My resolution for 2009 is too stay committed to this path, and embrace changes with a calm mind and a content heart.

A small peek out the window reveals this New Year’s kind face, she smiles slightly and now I welcome her with open arms.

Suzyn J: To be open to what life has to offer me.

Sara C: This year, I am going to be a nicer person. Even to people who push on the subway. Even to everyone.

Beckah B: To finally use the gym membership I’ve been paying for!

Lucy F: I resolve to not say a single unkind thing about my own body but to enjoy turning forty this year. No exceptions.

Danette R: I actually celebrate the New Year in September. There is something about that turn of season in Autumn that has always felt like a natural beginning to me. Even still, making commitments and setting goals are things I do year round as they present themselves, not just on January first.

Although I don’t “do” resolutions to ring in the new year, I am always churning the cycles of new ideas and cultivating the life I want to live. Presently I am cultivating focus. I wish to weed out all that is sucking energy away from what is most important to me right now.

What will I be doing with all that weedless focus? Two things: Growing my business with the passion and attention it deserves, and deepening my commitment to creative expression and wellness.

Colleen O: this is the year my first book, The Acceptance Diet: Living Life Outside Of The Refrigerator, will be published!

Rick J: To write, speak and live my truth. And to do the dishes regularly enough that my wife lets me get rid of the dishwasher.

Pema T: I usually resolve to have no resolutions, working a bit of reverse psychology on myself: I don’t want to let myself down. But this year, I resolve 1) to finish the play I started writing last year, 2) to finish the novel I started writing this year, and 3) to pay off another school loan…that I racked up on the way to 1 & 2.

Emily M: My new year’s resolution is to really devote myself to my writing. I want to have completed one of the big projects I’ve had in the works over the next year.

Caitlin F: To get back in the habit of going to the gym every day. l’ve been super busy lately, but I know that a workout will help me de-stress AND look great!

Chynna L: I’ve had so many friends and relatives diagnosed with different sorts of cancer this past year. Most recently was a dear friend of mine who’d just had her 5th baby then found out she has Hodgkinson’s. She’s going for a round of chemo on Christmas Eve! Things like that make me realize the little stresses in my own life aren’t so bad by comparison.

As a survivor of cancer myself, I value good physical and mental health even more. Plus, I’m a worrier about everything. That’s why I started yoga, meditation and Pilates…a calm mind is a calm body! In 2009, I’m going to try harder to maintain a calmer life so I won’t do any more damage to my body.

Michelle F: My New Year’s Resolution this year? To forgive myself, worry less, and move on.

That sounds easy or even trite, but it’s not. Background info: In 1991, I married my ex. He turned out to be abusive, among many other things. I left in 2001 with the children and the clothes on our backs. I lost everything (long story how that happened) and so I’ve had to begin again building a life for myself and them. I spend a lot of time looking in the “rear view mirror” mourning the bad decision I made. I fear how my decision may negatively impact my children’s lives too. I worry about the impact of my bad decision when I gaze into my new husband’s eyes, and when I tuck our child into bed at night. I worry that my 4 girls may marry men like their father instead of like their step-father. I worry.

This year, I vow to spend more time looking through the windshield of life….not checking the rear view mirror. I also hope to “enjoy the ride”!

Robin S: To play with my children more.

L’Tanya D: I want to finish and submit my book proposal. I believe everyone has a book inside them dying to get out. After two years of thinking about my idea, I started working on the proposal in 2008, got some good feedback along the way, and have made a vow to finish it in 2009. That will feel golden!

Gwen J: I’ve got the classic weight loss resolution. 20 lbs off…for real this time!

Pearl M: This year my resolution is to develop clarity of purpose. I am not talking about anything grand like my life purpose. I am talking about creating conscious and intentional space for whatever it is that is needed in a given moment. Let me explain. There are lots of times when I am simply a jumbled mess. I am scattered, multi-tasking, trying to answer an e-mail, talk to my son and organize my desk. In those times, I am radiating confusion and there is no space for anything. On the other hand, when I choose to focus on one purpose, like taking a break from work, and I sit quietly with a book in hand, my son can approach me to talk because I am radiating clarity — I am at peace.

Adrienne P: I have one New Year’s resolution that I do not think will be too difficult to keep, especially because it’s one of the techniques that Sonia Lyubomirsky recommends in her book, The How of Happiness, and I’m determined to be happier in 2009.

I resolve every day to think of one thing, big-small-huge-or just peculiar to me alone, that I am grateful for and then to write it down. For example: coffee, plenty of hot water for showering, the fact that I have a resilient personality, that my relationship with my mom is so good, that I have amazing nieces, that my brother is my very own car mechanic, and that I get to listen to music/see art/watch a dance performance that moves me to tears.

These are just a few things that I’ll be noting…

Sarah J: I’m feeling clear this new year of 2009. There is new space, room for me to breathe life into my intentions in a whole new way. No more excuses. No more busy life that obscures the best of intentions. This year is all about allowing the space for ideas and passions to come into being – as a writer, in my business, my creative self, with my beloved family…

Devy S: Not to be so hard on myself. To cut myself the same slack I give other people!

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