So, I've gone three rounds with Jose Cuervo and I've also got a little captain in me, along with a glass of wine for a toast with my lovely sister and her charming husband, right before some fireworks. And no, tequila doesn't make my clothes come off... though I can make no promises if there were anyone around worth stripping for.

So I'm in a good and plastered state for this purpose. I haven't been this mellow and intensely focused in a good long while. It reminds me why I used to drink so much.

I'm here of course to talk about New Year's Resolutions. 2012 was, for me, a fucking amazing year. And I know some people who will object to my saying this, because from some perspectives it seemed like I was having a rough time this year. Not gonna lie, I had some serious rough patches. But I made a resolution at the beginning of last year, that 2012 was going to be the best year I ever spent on this planet, whatever it took. And it has been. I bless the year as I leave it behind. It has taught me so much. I don't even know where to begin.

I have learned that I need to embrace myself with integrity and harness all of my faculties. Everything about me, even my faults, are things which deserve a measure of respect. They make me what I am and contribute to my uniqueness, and my uniqueness is my greatest asset.
I have learned that I have depths of strength and resolve I had forgotten. I have recovered invaluable resources.
I have learned that nothing I have ever learned has ever truly been lost, no matter how rusty the skills grow.
I have awakened to power that I once thought utterly lost, but now I have it once more, and tempered by the wisdom its absence has taught me.

So, that resolution worked out well. So well in fact that I'm going for it again. 2013 is gonna be even better, whatever it takes.

This is going to be the best year I have spent on this planet to date.

And to this end, I have some other things I want to try to do. Small moves that I believe will add up.

-First and foremost, there are four daily habits I want to cultivate, and I'm taking a hiatus from my home life in order to do it.

I will make sure I clean myself and my environment everyday, just a little. I'm doing this already here at my sister's place; she needs the help nearly as badly as my mother does.

I will write a little and draw a little every day, and to that end I'm going to be dedicating my tumblr, nominus-expers.tumblr.com, to displaying my sketches and brief musings, the latter of which may be nothing more than captions from whatever book I'm reading at the moment.

I will set aside no less than fifteen minutes per day to get in touch with my center through meditation. I will also spend at least that much time in uninterrupted contemplation or study of practical metaphysics and spirituality.

If I do no other exercise, I will spend several minutes every day stretching my body. I will also be making a hula hoop pretty shortly so maybe I'll go out and dance more often.

Every month this year I will make one sale at minimum. That is one item I have created from talent and skill or culled from among my overabundance of goods sold during every month of this year, at a minimum. I intend to be doing a lot of the work I want to do that I know will also sell, and to stop underselling myself. My work is good and I'm in the process of acquiring some things that will make it all the better.

- I will no longer be compromising my health. 2012 saw the end of my smoking habit. I'm still in a yo-yo relationship with nicotine but I am not habitually consuming tobacco products. I am also referring here to diet and nutritional supplements. Seeing to these is an act of self preservation. If I may be bold, a number of my friends would be dead and buried were it not for me, and I am not honoring the gift I have that made that possible by murdering myself with my own knife and fork and starving myself of the nutrition I need to truly live. I mean to change the way I eat, and I will be smart about it.

-I will be a more responsible steward with my time and money. I will start getting up at the same time every day until it becomes a habit and I will not compromise that time. I will treat money as a means, not as an end, and spend it wisely and with confidence.

- I mean to broaden my social networks in order that doors may open for me that could not otherwise open. I wish to start attending services at a Unity church in Pensacola and I don't really care what anyone thinks about this, because I developed a concept of god and spirituality that is in line with theirs some ten years ago. There is no source other than nature and my own uninhibited divine spark, given its right expression, that so richly feeds my spirit. I have compromised on this long enough.

- And Lastly, I mean to measurably reduce my physical weight in a dramatic way this year. I know from my experience with the Fit n
Furry livejournal group that I can lose about 2.5 pounds of weight every week with diet and exercise. As of today I weigh 347 pounds
including clothes, shoes, and wet hair, keys, wallet, phone, a dollar in pennies nickels and dimes, electronic cigarette and pack, stack of gift cards, pencil, pen, two sharpies, and jewelry.
This will not do, and neither will nebulous health goals. It is true that, ultimately, my objective is to be able to fit into certain clothing sizes and generally be healthier and feel better about my body. That's important to me. But to that end, i propose the
following:

With good portion control and food selection, and 3-4 hours a week of exercise at good intensity, I mean to accomplish the following.

By the end of April, which is beach season, I want to be down to 300 pounds OR fit into 2xl shirts and 50" pants comfortably.
By the end of August, around my birthday, I want to be down to 260 pounds OR fit into 1xl shirts and 42" pants comfortably.
By the end of December, around Christmastime, I want to be down to 235 pounds (my goal weight) OR fit into large shirts and 38" jeans comfortably.

That's about ten pounds a month, two and a half pounds a week, as I've said.

Accomplishing even ONE of these considerable objectives would make my resolution a fact. Accomplishing all of them will make renewing the resolution in 2014 effortless.

"Today I had a conversation with my true self. She asked why I had abandoned her why I had ignored all her constant advice. And then
she reminded me of all the things I had forgotten, and never once did she say, "I told you so." -Monique Duval

I believe that the Divine Source has become me in this body, on this earth, to accomplish certain things. Right now I have so many of them left to do that I will live forever.

Starting right now.

Happy New Year everyone. I know mine is.