Goals for 2013

I realise that I am very late for New Year’s Resolutions, but I think it’s still worth coming up with a few. They largely reflect my desire to use the Internet less (especially for pointless things such as Facebook and random Googling) and start doing more with the time I save. Therefore, this list is mostly a series of ideas of what to fill the extra time with.

1. Make coffee from coffee beans. I really enjoy the taste of freshly ground coffee, and now I have a coffee grinder for Christmas (thank you grandparents), this seems like a good thing to be doing.
2. Work more upstairs in the library. The theology library is a great space to work with a community of other people, but it sometimes gets a little distracting in the area where talking is allowed. So I might work upstairs more to keep my concentration going, especially in the early afternoons where I naturally flag.
3. Try at least 1 new recipe a week. Food is one of my biggest loves in life, and so I want to push myself to constantly improve my cooking skills.
4. Have at least two vegan meals a week. I am vegetarian for ethical reasons, but I know that it is not the ideal situation – vegan eating sees a lot of these values free to a more logical ending. Unfortunately, I really like strong cheese, eggs and milk. So instead, I will be cooking a couple of vegan meals a week – cuts down on my dairy intake and is healthy, too!
5. Be more creative with lunches. The sight of a homemade cheese sandwich at lunch has never inspired me, and often results in me spending lots of money at Boots getting expensive shop bought sandwiches. Therefore, I want to try a series of creative homemade lunch ideas so I will save money and eat healthier (less cheese!).
6. Write more by hand. Apparently this is meant to be good for freeing up the creative juices, and it will mean that I don’t get horrific cramp when exams roll around. As an incentive, I will buy some nice pens and paper.
7. Discover two new musical artists a month. This one is self-explanatory, but I think it’ll be fun to do. I am very open to suggestions!
8. Design more for the sake of designing. Again, this one is self-evident (and along the same line as number 6), but I want to be pushing my design skills more this year so I don’t get stuck in a rut.
9. Read and think about at least three interesting essays a week. Partly thanks to both Marilynne Robinson’s essay collections and The Morning News, the essay is fast becoming my favourite genre to read. I find it amazing how compelling and interesting short essays can be, and I would love to read more of them. I also feel it will be good for my own blog and academic writing, as I will see how other people write well. So far to read this year, I have Rowan Williams’ “On Christian Theology” and David Bentley Hart’s “In the Aftermath“.
10. Play the guitar more – challenge myself. Since spontaneously deciding to learn the guitar a couple of years ago, I have become reasonably competent (read: I can make a not entirely unpleasant noise). However, I don’t want to settle with passable and would really like to spend this year reinforcing and developing skills, especially in terms of strum patterns and moving around the fret board to give different voicings.
11. Go jogging three times a week. (can be substituted with bike riding). Even when it’s cold outside. I gave myself a shock at how much weight I put on in December, and I need to shed some of it back off. So jogging seems a good idea – and it’ll probably help my general well being, too!
12. Grow herbs and salad leaves inside. I cook with huge amounts of salad leaves and herbs and it can get expensive having to buy them all. So I will try and grow some on the windowsill to have ready access to some fresh leaves.

If they work, it’ll be fantastic. If not – I won’t feel too bad. I’ll report back at the end of the year how I got on. I would love to know your opinions on any of them, ideas on what to listen to, read and practice, and people asking me how I am doing in various areas. Do get in touch!

P.S - I tweet @davidbunce - follow me there!