Continuing . . . Goals

Lest I be confused with our Congress, these are some more goals and not continuing resolutions!

*Creativity
I love to scrapbook, but in the past 6 months haven't had much time to do so.  Well, really, I've probably had the time but chose to do other things.  Isn't that always how it is?  We make time for the things we really value.  I need to carve out time to do this.  My child is old enough that my tools aren't a danger nor a temptation for him.  Carving out a space is the more challenging part, since scrapbooking is a hobby which requires spreading out - papers, tools, pictures, pages, embellishments, etc.  Creativity is very important for our brains and our souls; we were made in the image of the Creator.

*Novelty
There is a lot of research out that which shows that doing and learning new things is really good for your brain (are you sensing a theme here?).  I have started on this goal even before the New Year began.  You see, I bought my first real audiobook - The Life of Pi, although I got it from iTunes and not Amazon.  Holding a book in my hand, turning the page, smelling it, writing in it - these are the ways I "read" any book.  Listening to it, kind of a read-aloud for adults, is not something I do at all.  So I got this and have started listening to it while I walk on the treadmill.  It will also be an interesting experiment - will I remember more of the story?  What will I like about and dislike about it?  Do I attend better with someone else's voice in my head?  Am I secretly an auditory learner when I thought I was visual all along?

Maybe this book wasn't a good first choice.  The prose is so captivating that if I were reading it instead of listening to it there would be underlining everywhere.  I can't do that with an audiobook; frustratingly I try to recall those catchy phrases and apt descriptions and all I can come up with is the voice of the reader.  In the previous seven chapters, there were two dramatic instances of foreshadowing, which was probably more an effect of seeing the movie trailer, but, really, those first chapters were full of water - liquids of all kinds really.  It will be quite interesting to watch the movie after I listen to this book.

The novelty extends to lots of other areas.  I might try to ski or snowboard this year.  Since many of my friends knit, and I very basically can, perhaps I should work to encourage my creativity plus improve my skill, a very handy one to have should bartering become necessary.  Traveling to new places is exciting and new (but not necessarily on the Love Boat); I hope to do this quite a bit.  We have neglected our garden and that would be a good thing to pick back up.  Learning a language would really work the old brain over; Caleb has been haphazardly trying to learn Russian so maybe I'll join him.

*Finances
Managing money is a skill, one I am not very good at.  I know there is a spiritual link to money and how one uses it and feels about it and serving God.  I sadly confess I have put my hope in money at times instead of in God.  So one book I have been dreading reading, but know I must if I want to grow in this area, is Money, Possessions and Eternity by Randy Alcorn.  I know that linked page is old (2008!) but I am even more fascinated by the Theology of Money course described under the book!  I want to learn more about this topic - nothing like getting two birds with one stone.