…or something like that.

Hello 2013! I’m freshly showered and inspired, a few days late, but otherwise ready for you. I’ve put away the Christmas ornaments, unpacked the suitcase, trimmed the flowers and freshened the water in the vases, cracked open a new journal, and put new sheets on the bed.

I’ve cleaned house physically, mentally, and inspirationally in at least the five following ways:

- moved all of last year’s photos off my laptop and onto two backup drives, leaving only a small file of easily accessible favorites from the year

This one made the cut because PUPPY TONGUE.

This one made the cut because I PLAYED WITH BABY TIGERS.

- christened a new journal with a list of goals & resolutions and then created another list of things I’d like to do this year (high on that list: getting a happy green potted plant for my living room and not killing it)

- created a rainy day board (accolades to remind me I don’t totally suck on the days that I think I do)

- created an inspiration board of my heroes to remind me who I look up to and how they got where they are

and

- updated and set up my calendar for the near future to keep me on track (clearly necessary as I was convinced today was Wednesday until Google quite bluntly informed me otherwise – that revelation might actually have been the hardest part of my day)

I also looked up my horoscope for the year because a new year is not properly welcomed until one confronts ones stars.

I was gratified to find the horoscope said pretty much exactly what I hoped it would. I looked up a different one to check and it said something totally different, so I kept looking until I found another to confirm what I wanted to hear. It’s a totally valid, scientific approach and I highly recommend it.

If last year was defined by travel, this year should be defined by routine. The biggest change I can make to my life right now is to calm it the hell down. I proclaim that it’s okay to be boring because I’ll actually get some work done – and I love my work so much I miss it when it’s gone. I get cranky, like I haven’t had my morning coffee.

What’s written in your stars for the year?

In other news: I read someone say that all books are self-help books and, separately, that all advice is things the dispenser of advice would have told their younger selves. If that all be true, my current book is totally a self-help book for my 25-year-old self. The lessons are in between the story lines.