i’m not big on new years resolutions. i’ve made it through the bulk of january without buckling under the pressure to codify grand proclamations about the “new and improved” me that will emerge this year.

it all feels too contrived. or perhaps too pressured. a commitment to expectations that, if left unfulfilled, become another potential source (as if we need anymore!) of stress or disappointment. hopes and dreams #fail…or something like that.

but inevitably, the beginning of a new year does cause you to take stock. consider the status quo. contemplate changes. assess risks. hit the reset button on the same old, same old.

i have utterly no idea what’s around the corner, but the strangest feeling has hit me over the course of the last few weeks. something just clicked. it’s like a switch has been flipped. maybe it’s the lingering afterglow of holiday happiness. or warm fuzzies from quality time with the family. or simply just the vaguest sense that good things are in store.

…ironically, as the wet, arctic icy blast is blowing through the city, i can’t help but feel the warmth of possibility. i woke up this morning, eyes still shut, but a slideshow of images, some of my favorite shots, cycling through my mind.

"what changes are you planning to make?" a friend recently asked me.

"don't worry about it," i said...because i'm not.

some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. delicious ambiguity... -Gilda Radner

it was senior year. beaumont school for girls, class of 1990. the assignment: for our high school yearbook, we had to submit a quote to go along with our senior picture.

thankfully i opted for a tasteful headshot with a simple black background—no vertical blinds or wicker armchairs for this girl (that was so sophomore year!).

so now all i had to do was come up with a quote.

the pressure was on. for some, the task was a no brainer. "dead poet's society" was the blockbuster movie of the year so "carpe diem" and "seize the day" were the obvious choices. others took the high road: "i wanted to live deep and suck the marrow out of life" a la' Thoreau and the transcendentalists. and still others took the cheesy route. remember that terrible 80s song by timbuk 3? that's right, "the future's so bright (i gotta wear shades)" [insert groan here]

after intense internal debate, and because i waited until the last possible second to submit my quote or forever be remembered for saying [nothing], i decided.

"look at the donut, not the hole."

i was in honors classes, got good grades, and this was the best quote i could come up with? rather than quoting an author, a philosopher, a president or my favorite line from a cure or depeche mode song, i chose a simple kitschy quote to sum up my credo in life.

should i chalk it up as a bif, the result of a bad case of senioritis? or the duress of a looming deadline? it's interesting that even when it think about it today, it still resonates. it's brilliant in its simplicity, direct, a bit unexpected, and all about being optimisic. it's who i am. the same mantra then as now. it was an epiphany.

when you look back at moments in the past that have defined you, it's interesting to reflect on your life's trajectory and see whether the thread continues. can you "connect the dots" or trace them back to a single guiding principle? or has time, experience or maturity changed your outlook?

what would your quote be now? if you've got one, say it out loud...and live by it.