I don’t love the word “resolutions”, it’s become almost a curse word and we practically cringe when we hear it. Even I use it as a bad word: “Ugh, the resolution-ists are at the gym…in a month they won’t be here…”

As 2018 ended I spent a lot of time reflecting on the past year, both on the good things and the not-so-good things. In early 2019 I would complete my MFA in poetry and turn 40 so the year would start off with some pretty big milestones. I thought about what I wanted for 2019 and as I entered a new decade of my life. After a bit of thinking and reflecting, here are my goals for 2019 – I’m not calling them resolutions because those seem fleeting. So I’ve settled on calling them goals.

  1. Write reviews and leave ratings for the books of poetry I read. I read a lot, 221 last year to be exact, and at least 50 of those were poetry (I don’t have the exact numbers in front of me). One way to easily support poets is to leave ratings and reviews for their books. This is something I ask of people for my books of poetry so I need to always do this for others. I always leave ratings but reserve my reviews for books I love. I need to spend the time to write a review for each book of poetry – it doesn’t have to be a long essay, but a few sentences go a long way.
  2. End toxic relationships/friendships and remember I can’t be everything to everyone. I have a couple of friendships that are borderline toxic – the other person wants/expects things from me that are unrealistic, they demand my time and energy, they make me anxious/uncomfortable, they disrespect my boundaries, and/or their friendship is a drain on me. I understand that sometimes one person in the friendship has to give more — one person is down so the other lifts them up. My problem is when I’m always the person doing the lifting. I’m always the person putting in more energy. And this isn’t healthy or beneficial or acceptable. Any relationship, whether with a friend or a lover, requires both parties to participate and contribute. If one person does everything, that’s not a friendship. And so I’m going to be more aware of this and I’m going to step back from the people who are toxic. (Worth noting, I’m well aware that mental illness can impact people’s ability to be there/contribute to a friendship. I’m not referring to that and I am fully okay with being the strong one when a friend is going through a rough time or battling depression, etc. That’s an entirely different thing.)
  3. Figure out what to do next with my poetry. I have to clean up my manuscript and then send it out to a publishers and presses. I want to research some workshops/conferences/fellowships. I want to keep writing as much as I have been these past two years.

Those are my goals for 2019. What are yours?

2019 New year greeting card with fireworks. Minimalist style, geometric thin outline. Vector, eps.10