Ah yes, New Years Resolution time. You know, that time of the year when one reflects on the previous year and see what has been accomplished on one’s resolution list and what one has accomplished unknowingly… and what one still needs to work on.

I don’t usually have a resolutions list… but rather a list of what I would want to do and what I did not want to do. Some small and minor and others major and life altering.

But why am I doing this? Because I find that (after talking to many of my friends) we often get caught up in the details in life that we forget just how much we have accomplished when we sit down and actually think about it. So in many ways this is my attempt to put things into perspective and see what have I accomplished no matter how small. Afterall, if we stress about the little things we forget about the big things and if we forget about the big things we lose track of what is really important in life.

So before I head into 2013… what have I completed in 2012? Better question: what would carry over into 2013 and what would not?

1: Complete a full length play
One of the first things I completed in 2012, done but not edited or revised… that is the 2013 goal.

2: Complete a ten-minute play
Another one that was done rather early… and edited up the wazoo… shelved for a few months, brought back out, dusted off and worked on again… if anything this might be the closest to public exposure in time… in what capacity I know not of.

3: Travel out of state more to visit friends
This has been something that is going strong for the past few years and will continue to do so in the coming year… starting with a trip to Madison to hang out with friends that I haven’t done in almost a decade.

4: Hit the community theatre audition circuit harder
Well as evidence of my ever changing dance card… I did hit the circles hard to relative success… and considering that my contract of working out of the suburbs has been extended a year you can bet this will continue.

5: Work backstage
Similar to 4, if and when I have to start working out of the main city… time would be so limited that I may not be able to commit to another show. Extreme I know, but a very real possibility. So how to compensate? Learning the ropes of the backstage world and find my thrill that way.

6: Give someone a (second) chance when I felt they deserve none
Yeah well… self-fulfilling prophecy to be sure… because I ended up cutting them off from my life… but at least I gave them a chance before I realized I am better off with them out of my life completely as opposed to having any part of it.

7: Audition for groups that I wouldn’t have in previous years
This is all about confidence and I had more of it this year than the ten / fifteen years previous. And am I glad. If I am going to consider myself a “floater” I better damn well continue to float.

8: Reconnect with old friends
This is a bit of a misnomer… and it would appear that I know far more people than I give myself credit for. But in the past few years I lost touch with the friends that have seen the lowest of my lows and were still there… so to me they deserve a bit more of a priority than those I have met more recently

9: Polish my singing voice
This always always always trip me up during auditions. I can handle cold readings and monologues… but singing? I always get nervous… so being cast in a musical for any reason will always be a surprise for me. Being remotely considered for solos is a big deal for me considering how insecure I am about my own singing voice to begin with.

10: Control my workload
Well that kind of goes without saying… as long as I keep my days at an eight / nine hour day for the most part… I should be ok. Granted if I am busy most nights, then the nights I am free I’ll work late to compensate and to keep up with workload, but for the most part this is to keep me doing the things I love to do.

11: Attempt NaNoWriMo
Notice I said “attempt” and not “complete”… realistically at the time completing was a far fetched idea… might not be the case for 2013. I did manage to get a lot of pages and writing done on a script level but still nothing that would equate to a completion rating for NaNoWriMo… ah well what can you do?

12: Focus on my secondary “career”
Yes… I have a lucrative primary job / career… so why do I need a secondary income? Honestly I don’t, but it doesn’t mean that I can’t get paid (by chance) for something that I enjoy. So why not? And as long as I keep up to date for the most part… I should be ok… right?

Oh… and the honorable mention:
Submitting writing works
I submitted the first 20 pages of an adapted screenplay and received an email reply of “we’re sorry but they are unable to review your script due to their focus on marketing a current film project towards opening, but thank you for your submission”. The temptation to send the ‘first act’ of said script is fairly high and something I would consider doing once I get around to checking it through again for any possible additional edits.

Now… technically… for me… I still have the Lunar New Year to celebrate and that would be when my “new year” would start. The year of the Water Dragon will end and the year of the Water Snake will begin… but that’s another post for another day.