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  2006, I Hardly Knew Ya
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Happy New Year, people.

It's 2007, and 2006 couldn't have gone by faster. New Year's Eve found me this year sitting in the back of Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, listening to Audra McDonald sing the classic movie musical songs I've always loved.

I confess, that mythical larger than life, sophisticated new year nearly found me this time.

Still, after Audra left the stage and the hall emptied, I found myself left with my own recollection, as always. I've left 2006 in a good place, and I'm moving into 2007 the same.

The last 365 days, in brief:

LOST: time, sight of myself, my old insecurity about money, the summer - instead working insane hours at a horrible job, Morgan, anonymity, stress, a sense of obligation, tension in my house.

FOUND: a new job, my social life, Montauk, all the things I enjoy doing that fell away during the business of loving and living with someone, Manhattan again, financial stability, a great hairdresser, maturity, another new job, confidence, good health insurance, peace of mind.

As for the next 365 days, I've decided that this year my goal is to move beyond simply being financially stable, an achievement I'm very proud of given the cost of living in this city, and begin to acquire financial freedom. I want to stop living paycheck to paycheck. I want to repair and rebuild my credit. I want to build a "nest egg." I also want to invest. I've been reading a lot of books about economics, and I know that you can't really build wealth without doing it. I've reached a point in my life where I'm at a job that I can really commit too, with good management, room for growth, and a good wage. It's time to really take control of my fiscal self. I feel like I have developed a lot of self control about spending habits, budgeting, and managing bills, and I'm ready to look at things I've avoided for awhile.

I would also like to direct at least one other show this year. Last year was a whirlwind of changes, and I missed an opportunity I was offered and ended up not doing anything. This year, at least one. One is well within reach right now.

As for you, for my New Year's well wishing I'm borrowing from Eleanor Roosevelt this year, in a poignant speech she made on January 1, 1937. It's my favorite new year sentiment, one I go back to year after year and I'm happy to pass to you now...

"I wish for those I love this New Year an opportunity to earn sufficient, to have that which they need for their own and to give that which they desire to others, to bring into the lives of those about them some measure of joy, to know the satisfaction of work well done, of recreation earned and therefore savored, to end the year a little wiser, a little kinder and therefore a little happier."

Happy New Year, people.
 

Name:
Location: Brooklyn, NY, United States

The basics... I'm 34, a feminist, lesbian, vegetarian, cat owning aspiring writer/director. After 27 years of fucking around telling myself my dreams weren't practical, seven years ago in a story that has now become legend in my life, I packed everything I owned and moved to Brooklyn to pursue life as a writer and theatre director. It's a very Madonna-esque tale ($800 cash to my name, nowhere to live, roaches, starvation and a crazy Turkish roommate) that I'm sure I'll be telling, but not now. For now, suffice it to say that this story, still in progress, has a happy ending. Or a happy middle, seeing as how I'm nowhere near being finished with anything. Life in Brooklyn is funny, scary, occasionally really hard, and everyday testing me as a person and a survivor. I think I'm passing. At least I wake up smiling every morning. The city is my lover, and like all truly great relationships, I love who I am when I am in it.



PREVIOUSLY...
One of Those Surveys
Over and Over
Roll Out the Barrells
The One Where I Pimp Lesbian Hillary Love
Dear 16 Year Old Me...
Requiem
So In Love
Snapshots, Spring 2007
Come on, Snow, Come Down from Sky.
Artgasm

ARCHIVES
May 2005 / June 2005 / September 2005 / November 2005 / December 2005 / January 2006 / February 2006 / March 2006 / May 2006 / June 2006 / July 2006 / August 2006 / September 2006 / November 2006 / December 2006 / January 2007 / February 2007 / May 2007 / June 2007 / July 2007 / November 2007 / September 2008 / February 2009 /


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