The 2010 Project

We will open the book. Its pages are blank.
We are going to put words on them ourselves.
The book is called Opportunity and
its first chapter is New Year's Day.
~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

It's a new year and a new decade and such an occasion calls for a little something more than just your average, ordinary New Years Resolution. Last year may have been a little tough or obnoxious or just plain boring for some people and the typical "I want to get in shape" goal just wasn't going to cut it for us this year. Let's face it: the average resolution is just doomed for failure and a crazed binge on an entire carton of Moose Tracks Ice Cream sometime in the middle of the month (not that I've EVER done that... ahem).

No, 2010 needs to be epic. It needs to be special. It needs to be FUN.

So a couple of friends and I have christened The 2010 Project. We briefly considered doing two-thousand and ten things throughout the year... Actually, I lie. We never seriously considered that. We are NOT that ambitious. The much more reasonable number was always ten. Ten things. Ten things that we each wanted to do, participate in or accomplish.

In the coming weeks and months the three of us will be posting about our year of adventure at The 2010 Project Blog We can't wait to see what this year has in store for us, where our lists will take us and how the back end of twelve months will find us changed. Here's to living determined, risky, creative, unexpected and full lives in 2010.

My List of Ten Things in 2010

1. Submit a piece of writing for publication
2. Learn three new things
3. Get a passport and use it
4. Take a class
5. Get a Tattoo
6. Wear a bikini this summer
7. Volunteer somewhere
8. Sing Karaoke
9. Read Time Magazine's Top Ten Novel List
10. Make a new friend

Dear 2009...

I will not miss you.

Not one single, tiny, itty, bitty bit.

If 2008 was a year for change for me then 2009 was a year for... lessons. Lessons learned.

They were hard lessons but I learned them nonetheless.

I've learned how awful it feels to have your worst paranoia's and fears come true. I've learned that hearts can be broken even when it's not an "in love" kind of love. I've learned that I can be angry enough at someone that just the thought of them makes me break out in hives. I've learned that there are always strings attached. I've learned that sometimes you have to purge something from your life before you realize how poisonous it really is and I've learned that it IS okay to be alone.

No, I will not miss this year, I will not miss the crapfest of emotions that I went through while learning these lessons.

But I do have to say this: Amidst the heartache and change and betrayal and endless worrying, there has been a silver lining, a more hopeful lesson, something I hope to hold on to as the real take away from this year. While certain people were dashing my beliefs and destroying my trust, a few others were showing me what true friendship really looks like.

It's frantic 2AM text messages and midnight rescue missions and showing up with trucks to pack and move an entire life in under four hours. It's providing a place of escape and a shoulder to cry on. It's trips to the beach and Disneyland and Barnes and Noble and The Cheesecake Factory. It's the sharing of dreams and fears. It's planning and hoping and dancing and snuggling. It's laughter, oh my God, so much laughter - belly aching, rolling on the floor, crying, kind of laughing.

I've been so lucky during this year to have friends who have come through in a big way for me, have shown me the kind of person, the kind of friend, the kind of woman I really want to be. So to the amazing people in my life, thank you. Thank you for restoring in me, a little bit of faith.

2009, you will not be missed. I'm onto bigger and better things. But I have a feeling, that when I look back I will remember 2009 as a defining year, a shaping year. Those heartaches and pains have only made me stronger and I step into this new year with all those lessons, strengthened friendships and a steady resolve.

Watch out.