2010 Roundup

Well, reassessment.  I'm supposed to be doing that.  It's February and usually I take time during February to set some new goals for myself for the year.  Before I do that I need to sit with my goals from last year and see what I accomplished.

Remember I made prayer flags last year depicting my goals for the year?  Here's a picture in case you forgot.

First, a map of Morocco.  The flag was to remind to be wise with money, pay off debt and save for a trip.  I give myself a B+ on this one.  I've paid some stuff off which is good and I've started saving toward what I hope is a trip to Haiti this summer to volunteer.

Second, "Any time you can tell your story in the form of a quest or pilgrimage, you'll be ahead of the game." --William Zinsser.  I set the goal to have my work published in three places last year.  I wrote a blog for Libuse Binder about Construction For Change, I published twelve recipes for Flock and three articles for Ocsplora, two of which were featured in the first ever print edition.  Success.

Third, the tree symbolizing the tattoo I want to get.  I didn't get that one but I did get this one...

Fourth, BOOKS!  I set the goal to read 25 books outside of school reading, I read 16.  Here's the list:  The Writing on Her Forehead, The Namesake, The End of Poverty, Dreaming of Baghdad, Arafat and the Dream of Palestine, Ecological Intelligence, Zen and the Art of Writing, The Fellowship of the Ring, Middlesex, Shanghai Girls, Savage Beauty: The Life Edna St. Vincent Millay, Half the Sky, The War of Art, A Poetry Handbook, Snow, Strength in What Remains.  For school I read: Brain Rules, Our Kind, The Government and Politics of the Middle East, Naked Lunch, On the Road, Veiled Threat and The Silenced Cry.  Total I read 24.  I win.

Fifth, the onion symbolizing cooking.  Did you read the part where I published 12 recipes? 

Sixth, the yoga person symbolizing self-care.  I got my migraines a bit more under control but I don't think I fulfilled the goal.  I didn't stick to a regular yoga practice which was the main part of the goal.  But there's always 2011.

An unexpected event this year was that I started painting.  See them here, here and here.  But here's one just in case you're lazy.

So, time for some new goals. Travel, reading, writing...and an old favorite is back.  Sit tight while I figure out 2011 and set your own goals while you're waiting.  If you need some help check out Chris or Jolie for inspiration.  They're the ones that inspired me to start this little yearly project.

Recently Added to My Bookshelf

1.  Descent into Chaos, Ahmed Rashid
2. Overtaken by Events, Ethan Casey
3. The Battle for God, Karen Armstrong
4. The Brief and Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz
5. What is the What, Dave Eggers
6. The Paul Farmer Reader
7. The Secret History of the American Empire, John Perkins
8. Justice, Michael J. Sandel
9.  When the Body Says No: Understanding the Stress Disease Connections, Gabor Mate
10. The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
11. Of Human Bondage, W. Somerset Maugham
12. Unaccustomed Earth, Jhumpa Lahiri
13. The Diary of Anias Nin, Volume 1
14. The Duel, Tariq Ali
15. The Crossing, Cormic McCarthy
16. Cities of the Plain, McCarthy
17. No Country For Old Men, McCarthy
18. The Road, McCarthy
19. Develpment as Freedom, Amartya Sen
20.  Failed States, Noam Chomsky
21. Sex at Dawn, Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá

Reassesment

Dear Blog,

I've been away for a while.  I'm sorry about that.  I've just been so very busy with school and work and many more excuses that I will not name here.  Now it's safe to say that I am back.  I've lowered my Netflix subscription to the smallest possible plan keeping me from hours of online television watching, I've purchased myself subscriptions to the Economist and Live Station so I can watch Al Jezeera and I've recently added about 20 more books to my book shelves.  Woah.

I know that I must write.  I must write because if I cease to write I will cease to exist.

And that brings me to passion.  Passion for writing.  Passion for human rights and development.  I just finished reading Mountains Beyond Mountains for the third time. For those of you who don't know the book, it's the story of Dr. Paul Farmer. (Actually, it's the story of Tracey Kidder following Dr. Paul Farmer around.)  It is Farmer, not Kidder who inspires me so much.  A medical anthropologist, Farmer is to the medical world what I can only dream of being to the development world.  I've just started The Paul Farmer Reader, an anthology of his writings and lectures on structural violence and his anthropological observations in Haiti.  Farmers words are stunning.  He presents the ever growing suffering of the world by giving voices to those who live their lives behind the walls constructed to keep them out of the view of the rich and comfortable.

As a bright young student with dreams heavily rooted in both international development and anthropology, I take his words and actions as a challenge.  I'm challenged to continually assess the reasons I give for going to school, for engaging in various committees in Student Leadership and for writing.   This is what I do at the start of every year--I reassess.



To be continued...