New Year's Ambitions for the Soul

So, I've been thinking about the coming year, and have decided to come up with (as I do every year) a list of things which I would like to do/ achieve/ change in the next year. I love resolutions, and every month or two I find myself compiling a list of things I aspire to do or be in the near future - there's something incredibly focused and inspiring about it. I love to fix my mind on greater things, and set myself challenges, because in the mundane moments of life, that is what sustains me.

2010 Soul Growing Ambitions

Finish knitting the blanket I started this year. It's a patchwork of sorts, made up of as many different colours and weights of wool as I could find, all autumnal colours. This is something I entertain myself with whilst watching a film or hanging out with housemates, and it's so satisfying to watch it develop!

Build up a portfolio of my art and photography, both of which I do for pleasure, and have no ambitions to use professionally, but still something that I recognise as a skill that needs to be honed. I also find both incredibly good for the soul. Art is somewhere I find God, and this for me has been an amazing comfort and joy in times where words have just not been able to penetrate the heights or depths of my feeling.

Speak and read French. Something which I will always be grateful for, is the fact that my dad chose to speak with us in French when we were small. It was his feeling that he wanted his daughters to grow up with a fluency in the language that he acquired in the years he grew up in France. I have to say it has worked! I love that I understand and speak such a beautiful tongue, but I recently realised that I have to be determined in keeping it!

Read more. This is always on every list I write. I find great inspiration in reading, the challenge of grappling with a text until I have really understood it, and have really appreciated what is being expressed is something I have always loved. My degree in English Literature was one of the best things I have ever done, and I revelled in this being my primary pursuit for three years! No matter how much I read, I always feel that I should read more! A few on my list for this year are A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, Confessions by Augustine, Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (how we got through a lit. degree without studying any Orwell, I'm not sure!), A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, Miracles by C.S. Lewis and The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. In addition to this, I'm hoping to discover some new poetry to flood my mind with.

Get an Ordnance Survey map and explore Leicestershire. I'm constantly amazed by what is just around the corner, quite literally, if you'll only look for it. This is my fourth year in Leicester, and now with a car, I have an amazing opportunity to explore it to my heart's content. I also plan on visiting the Peak District and finding some breathing places for inspiration. There is nowhere that I am more sensitive to the presence and voice of the Holy Spirit as when I'm in the countryside. For that reason alone, I am convinced that I need to spend more time exploring it!

Write letters. When I was in sixth form, I had several friends who lived a few hours away, and this began for me a season of letter writing. I can remember the anticipation of knowing that my friend had just received my letter and would no doubt be replying soon. I think that those letters played a very important part in my discovering of who I am and God's call on my life, and were sources of great wisdom. I still remember some of the advice I was given, and how I was encouraged by the sharing of life stories with another. I hope I will always be a letter writer. It is definitely an art.

Explore Camden Town. This year I set myself the challenge of becoming a tourist in our own capital city. This was sparked by a visit to Paris in the spring, where I visited my cousin Rebekah who was studying at L'Alliance Francaise. I love Paris, the architecture, the arts, the street performers, the parks, the history. I was so challenged that for the last few years I have lived within two hours of London and yet have never really immersed myself in its culture. So that is what I have spent some of this year doing. I bought myself a guidebook, and on each visit, I explored a different area of the capital. I have stayed mostly in the City of London, but this year I would like to branch out a little. First on my list is Camden Town.

Cook something new once a week. In our house we share the cooking, and I love this. It means that I have the pleasure of being fed by some pretty amazing cooks, and also, when it is my turn to cook, I find myself much more adventurous when cooking for myself! So, I have decided to capitalise on this, and discover some new recipes!

Go out for lunch alone. A strange one, I know, but over the last year or two, I have developed a taste for my own company. One of my favourite activities for the weekend is to take myself off to a quiet cafe with my notebook, or a the book I am reading at the time, and to 'just be' for a while. I revel in the space for thought, whilst being still amongst other people. I have never managed to pluck up the courage to go out for lunch alone. I am determined to do so this year.

Play my guitar. I love music with a passion, but I have to say, I am not naturally musical! I have taught myself to play guitar, but I need to work on it more. I love it when I play, but more often than not I fill my time with other things, and my guitar is left to entertain itself. The other thing is that I'm not confident when it comes to playing in front of people, my guitar playing is something I tend to keep behind closed doors. I'd love to be more confident though, so this is my challenge for 2010, to lose the fear!

Hand make all my presents. When it comes to birthdays, I love buying presents. There's something so deliciously secretive about choosing a present for someone else. I also love to hand make presents, but never leave myself enough time to do so. This year, my challenge is to hand make every present that I give away.

Explore Leicester's many unique cultures. Living in such a diverse and interesting city, I often feel that I don't really make the most of it. This year I want to immerse myself in a some of Leicester's cultural heritage and learn to understand and appreciate what makes them unique.

Make more of the little moments. Again, this is something I am always challenging myself to do. The pace of life is so fast, that I don't find time to enjoy little moments like brewing tea or watching birds take off, or noticing the cloud formations, or really enjoying what it is that I am doing. I want to learn to live in the moment, but with my eyes heavenward. That is, I want to be able to truly relish the moment that I am living in, whilst being aware of what God is doing, and saying. The last thing I wish to be said of me is that I rushed around, I did too much, and that I didn't really make the most of what it was I was doing.

That's the list, or the beginning of it at least. I think I'd better get started...

I'll keep you posted!