Ushering forth new beginnings

"And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been." Rainer Maria Rilke *

My daughter is always so ready for adventure. Here, she's walking along the path leading to one of our favorite beaches in Southern California.

I find these words from poet Rainer Maria Rilke especially appropriate since a new year holds forth so much promise. Rilke's words always have guided me as a writer and I have a well-thumbed and yellowed copy of his "Letters to a Young Poet" that I received from a poet friend in my teens.

New beginnings always have been exciting to me. A new job, a new school year, a new baby. So many new beginnings with opportunities for new experiences, with adventures and mistakes along the way making it all so much the richer. With this in mind, I sat down today to write new goals and revise old ones to help guide me in the coming year. I'd like to share them with you since so many of them are what I write about on Mama Without Borders. And, I admit, sharing my goals with others makes me more accountable and will propel me to action when I'm feeling lazy.

In no particular order, here are my goals and dreams for 2010:

1. To show gratitude for all the everyday blessings and occasional treasures in my life. Most importantly, I would like to express my gratitude more often to my wonderful husband for all that he does to make our life an everyday joy. I don't want to take for granted his dedication to a job that provides us with all that we need and more. Or his devotion to his kids, taking them every once in a while for an outing without me so I can blog or just relax.

My husband would scale a mountain for me, I think. In this case, he was trying to win a huge teddy bear for me, er, the kids.

2. To inspire my children to live a creatively fulfilling life by providing them with experiences and materials that encourage them to express themselves creatively. Creating art and crafting with my kids are what I dreamed about when I thought about having kids.

Some of my happiest times as a mother are when I'm watching my kids explore their creativity.

3. To live a creatively fulfilling life. What better way to teach my children about creativity than by practicing what I preach? Writing always has, and continues to be my main creative outlet (and primary form of earning income!) but I would like to show my kids other forms of creativity such as scrapbooking (a minor hobby of mine), photography (I am longing to take Susanah Conway's popular Unravelling e-course), and sewing (I've been yearning to learn how to sew on a machine like my mom, whose creations always amaze me).


One of my favorite photos from 2009 was this photo I took of a street in front of a darling children's boutique.

4. To be better organized with my time and home by focusing on specific projects and following them through to the end. I am guilty of being too ambitious and having too many balls up in the air, stressing me out unnecessarily. I would like to prioritize better so that more things get completed, rather than just started. Case in point, reorganizing my daughter's room has been a work in progress since last May. It is actually close to completion but I have not made it a priority to work on the art wall I would like to create in there.

My daughter's room reorganization is nearly complete. Thankfully, her closet is fully organized and I can find everything I need within seconds. I wish my entire home was this organized!

5. To relax and rest more. I have to remember that a well-rested mama accomplishes more and is more cheerful than one who is tired and sleepy.


My favorite design books and a cup of coffee always beckon me, but I don't always heed the call. I vow to do so more in 2010.

So there you have it. I'll write about some of my progress in the coming year. Feel free to share your goals if you would like, or even offer up suggestions or links to inspiring blogs. Holly over at Decor8 recently encouraged her readers to write in with their goals, which inspired me to create this list.

* By the way, if you like the Rilke quote at the beginning of this post, JetKat Design on Etsy has created some lovely cards featuring the same quote. I found out about these cards via The City Sage blog.