Remember to Water Your Dreams!

Greener days, from early 2014. Pre-ShadeUmbrella, Pre-theGardenHasTakenOverTheTerrace era. HI AITO!!

I keep learning a fundamentally valuable lesson here in Vietnam, over and over:

If you don't pay attention to something, it runs the risk of dying.

I've seen it illustrated vividly, time and again, as I cycle from over-care to under-care in the upkeep of our rooftop terrace garden. I'm actually a little embarrassed that I have to be reminded of this lesson so frequently! But every so often life seems to get in the way, and focus gets shifted. The result is that plants will wither and fade, and sometimes die.

Plants and nature are a principle joy in my life - I love getting my hands dirty. For as long as I've had my own place, I've had plants. And, like many plant owners, I've killed a ton of flora in my time. Through a lack of observation, ineptitude, and downright neglect, I've crushed many organisms whose very existence is a tonic for my mind... and yet, reflexively, I still revive the ones I can, toss the ones I've killed, and start fresh.

Vietnam is a casual gardener's dream. It's actually very easy to grow things here with a minimum of effort - all that is truly needed is a pot and some soil... and water, every day. Maybe not much water (most love the excess, though, being tropical two-season plants), but the trick is that it has to be a habit.

The very act of attention becomes nourishing.

The same is true with the ambitions and dreams we hold closest to our chests.

New Year's Resolutions 2015: Foundational and Incremental

Well hello again! What's that you say - February already??  Man, I guess I'd better put all those vaguely anxious feelings and thoughts into a brand spankin' new set of New Year's Resolutions!

In America it is traditional to make promises to yourself on the occasion of the New Year. To me, this symbolizes the endless, circular nature of time, encouraging us to renew our commitments to ourselves and our world as we celebrate another year of not being drowned, electrocuted (well, not to death, at any rate), crushed, stabbed, dismembered, or plowed down by a bus.

(If, perchance, you find yourself in one of the aforementioned situations, my condolences. I hope you're reading this post in a hospital somewhere.)

Where I come from, resolutions can also act as a mental defense against the soul-ravaging bleakness of January and February, giving us some kind of vision or goal to strive for and negating, as much as possible, how truly shitty those months are (especially in those northern states, it's just gawdawful. Stay strong, friends).

And so, keeping in mind the massive scale of the goals I have for my future (however far that might be) here I am once again. The goal this year is to take small, constant steps toward a future I create for myself without letting myself lie fallow. My dreams are much to big to take in one year, or even two. But five years? That suddenly sounds sorta, kinda doable!

Resolution Check-in: 2014 Post-Mortem

The hour is almost here (on my side of the globe, at least): 2014 is slowly making way for the new calendar year. 2015, you ready?

But first, let's cut 2014 up into gloopy pieces and see what it was made of for me. What made it go? What brought it to a halt? What helped, and what hindered. And, most importantly, where am I going next?

Back in January 2014, I made a list of 8 resolutions, plus some Lesser Goals, for the year.

So... how did I do?

I should say that I've never before followed-up my resolutions like this. I've really enjoyed the time spent mulling over and reflecting on what I did and didn't do to make these goals come to life as I sit down to write - there's often a deadline on traveling, which makes it nice for setting practical goals and provides a good incentive to follow through, or at least thinking of following through - there's sometimes no 'next year' to restart and re-evaluate your chosen goals. Do it now, while the doin's good!

In thinking about my goals for 2015, I wanted to quickly review what I accomplished, and didn't, in 2014... and in my creative life! Some of it worked... some of it didn't. Entire projects fell to flooding, rust, and sun, and it was a helluva time finding and using new materials (including bamboo!) All of it was sweaty, dirty fun, and most of it didn't give me minor electrical shocks! But hey, that's how I roll.

Let's see, shall we?

Resolution Check-in: Mistakes and How to Make Them

Wow, well in retrospect, I probably never needed to put this on my resolution list again. Because I'm SUPER, SUPER GOOD at making mistakes!

Here's the text of my resolution:

5. Make more mistakes... and learn from them 

The time for trepidation is over. I've got to be bold and confident. This extends past learning and communicating in the language, but it's a good place to start. I'm a fairly strong introvert, but being here has exercised my extrovert skills. Every day presents me with magical, unique opportunities and I'm here to say Yes to them, even if I'd rather putter around with my plants or write some postcards by myself. I will go new places and make new mistakes there.

Now, let's be clear... I was not talking about the same KIND of mistakes. I've learned that variety is the spice of life, and that - deities help me - extends to mistakes of all kinds, stripes, colors, and pearly, iridescent hues.

Also, double clear... my stipulation was that I had to LEARN FROM THEM. I guess that's what (spoilers?) I'm still working on. To be fair, though, I assume that'll be a rather permanent resolution for the rest of my life.

Oh, ok. So there's where we start to go off the rails. But it's good to have a jumping off point, even if that point goes right over a shark into a boiling vat of turkey gravy.

Resolution Check-in: Maintaining This Blog

META BLOG.

I've saved this post for my 150th - Thanks for being my readers, everyone!! I LOVE YOU.

Let's hop back 8 months to the start of this year and the resolutions I made going into 2014...

(SIDEBAR: WOAH 8 MONTHS ARE YOU SERIOUS WHERE DID THIS YEAR GO)...

Resolution Check-in: Long and Short Term Planning... and Living

An Bang Beach in Hoi An. Did I steal this from my instagram,
or did my instagram steal this from my blog?

Over the past couple months I've begun examining the New Year Resolutions I made back in January. It's a process that I've never really attempted before, but having them in writing has lent a certain amount of solidity and weight to them, and so I thought I might as well respond as I achieve, modify, or outright discard each in turn - a form of public self-reflection.

Our lives are constantly changing, and I strive to be flexible, but I'm also committed to making noticeable forward progress. In many ways, it's an interesting response to my own Resolutions, and one that is threaded throughout all the the ones I made this year: Do, Examine, Do Again. Baby steps to your goals, Ben!

Here and now! has been my rallying cry this summer... Let's pull out my Resolution post and poke at it with a stick!

Here's number three on my list of resolutions for 2014:

3. Plan for the long term, live for the short termI'm at a unique time and place in my life, and while my main impulse is to save, save, save, I have to recognize that there are things that I can only do here and now. I will spend the money I need to in order to get to where I want to. Experiences await! I'd also like to use the summer to get my CELTA certificate, which will allow me access to better jobs and more money internationally.

Plan for the Long Term:

Financially I'm doing fine. I've got dong galore. I've got contracts coming up for the next school year that I'm excited about. My 20-year plan originally had me seeking out an environmental NGO for part time work this coming year, but I'm flexible and certain opportunities have arisen that are too interesting to pass up. More on that after September.

Resolution Check-in: Self-Maintenance

 Hey no, neighbor! Let's see how I'm doing on that massive New Year's Resolution list, eh?

1. Maintain myself like a real person 

Seriously, a real person. That means not being scared of the barber, no more fried spring rolls for dinner, and you know what? I've got to get running again. The air here is hazy and polluted, but I just miss the run too much. It's time to tighten up my personal time schedule and re-commit to becoming a healthier, more presentable person in 2014. And note to self... buy some real dress shoes, mmkay? These moccasins are not acceptable for professionals.

It may not look like I'm following through based on the photo at left, but I promise you, things are progressing! The whole list sounds intense, and I've set some big goals for myself, but I've made some progress on this front (and, indeed, on so many of my resolutions!). I'll use this type of column to help document my progress on each of these goals, or to help myself understand why I've changed them from January and set new ones.

Click through to see how I got so colorful!