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Every person should have at least TWO New Year’s resolutions. One of them should be relatively easy to accomplish and the other should be nearly impossible. That’s how you achieve that warm feeling of smug self-satisfaction, without short-changing yourself. For example, Resolution 1: Buy New Underwear. Resolution 2: Solve World Hunger.
Easy right? Now you try it.
Not to appear overly SMUG, but I have already taken my own advice and completed my first resolution of the New Year. I have put away ALL the holiday decorations, with the exception of the tree, before the Epiphany. (Which has become, for some unknown reason, the official Christian deadline for “decoration removal”.) Boy do I feel good.
To understand why this is a “resolution” at all, you need to know that holiday decorations usually languish in our house well into March. Some never get put away at all, which has caused a touch of spousal friction over the years – nothing serious, but I could sense the 800 pound gorilla in the room, (and yes, he was wearing a Santa hat.) So this was an epic accomplishment, and was NOT a lame resolution, despite what my friends are saying.
I could stop with the whole resolution thing right now and be completely fulfilled. But the point of resolutions is to challenge ourselves to become better people, or so I’m told by those same busy-body friends. Who, as you guessed, are very opinionated, but there’s nothing I can do about them barring a resolution to make new friends (with less combined intellect and altruistic urges.) But that is what I kind of like about them. So I’ll keep the friends, and instead…
In 2010 I will seek enlightenment. As part of this quest I will exhaustively research, conduct a feasibility study, and establish a timeline for building a YURT in NH. Some women are into Feng Shui. I’m into Yurts. They fascinate me. This ancient nomadic dwelling is a lot like the Native American Kiva, except above ground…and without the religious overtones…and cuter. I find round structures strangely compelling on many levels. Perhaps if I lived in one I would become enlightened, or at least less “encumbered”. Not a bad resolution, eh? I’m very proud.
Surprisingly, I’m encountering some “Yurt Resistance” from within my family. My children do not want to live in a Yurt. They have made this abundantly clear by creating a YouTube video titled “I will not live in a Yurt”, (which has been viewed 2 million times despite being banned in Mongolia) and by saying things like, “Don’t think we wouldn’t put you in a nuthouse.”
My children do not fully appreciate (or seem to care) what the Yurt means to me symbolically. Teens are selfish that way. (Unlike Yurt pushing mothers who only want what’s best for their children.) For me, the Yurt stands for freedom. Freedom from housework, (how hard can it be to sweep out a yurt?) and freedom from the encumbrance of stuff. I vaguely remember a time when I could move ‘cross country with all my STUFF in the back of my Toyota Corolla. A time when I was a young nomad.
Now I am an old nomad wannabe saddled with surprisingly narrow minded children who fail to grasp the inherent beauty of Yurt Living. But because I love them, I will convince them that the Yurt is not simply a glorified tent for vegetarian yuppies or an alternative to hay bale construction. It’s a new way of thinking about life. (Especially when you take into consideration the composting toilet.)
Wait. Am I having a midlife crisis?
Just because I’m questioning the value system on which my life is built doesn’t mean I’m having a midlife crisis…does it? Maybe a resolution to move my family into a Yurt is a bit extreme. Maybe I need a new resolution. But it should be something really challenging, like winning the Nobel Prize in Economics or raising my children to be Kind and Selfless.
Let’s take a moment and think about this “new resolution” as if we were highly educated, but still yurt-obsessed people. Say we took all the government mortgage crisis bailout money and used it to build everyone in America an energy efficient Yurt (including myself of course.) We would solve the housing crisis, the energy crisis, AND unemployment in ONE bold move. We could all be nomads again, including the now jobless economists who used to study workforce fluidity. Ironic, yes, but this new “resolution” could win me the Nobel!
Or maybe I should simply resolve to stop inflicting my crazy Yurt Dreams on my innocent family. It would make them happy, and keep me out of the funny farm. And it would be a Kind and Selfless act. Good behavior to model for the children. But no rush, I’ve got a whole year to think about resolution number two. And while a Nobel Prize (with free Yurt) is awfully enticing, in the end, will it make me a better person?
I’m sure my friends will know. Good thing I’m keeping them.
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