The Sunday Evening Post, Issue 1

PBS has a great advertising campaign: Be More. You've probably seen the Be More Empowered interstitial where a little goldfish makes her way to a river filled with salmon via puddles and drainpipes. When I see it, I want to do two things at once: jump up and down cheering "go little fish go" and I want to cry over the sentiment of being empowered. You can watch it by clicking here. I love it. I love all their clips. Mostly I love the idea behind this campaign of
Be More: Informed, Engaged, Inspired, Creative, Open-Minded. Don't you want to be all those things? Life has so much to offer. Here, read this:

Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music
- the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures,
beautiful souls, and interesting people. Forget yourself.
~Henry Miller

The summer of 2000 I took a job doing something I've always wanted to do---work as a camp counselor. What days and weeks I spent at a child and teenage hiking, boating, singing crazy songs, tromping through rain, and tying knots were pure joy. So this was a dream come true. We were assigned a tentmate for the summer and I seriously lucked out getting Amanda Morgan. She changed my life forever. We had some great times together and if you know her, you know what a gem she is. I'll never forget the day she said to me,
"Just share yourself!" It was a much needed slap in the face because I didn't realize how introverted I really was. I think she was fed up with my keeping to myself. It never occurred to me we need to share ourselves. We just go along with the flow our life takes and let inhibitions, busyness, and sometimes apathy take place of these ideas to Be More, to Forget Yourself.

So for this year, if I were a PBS commercial I would read (insert inspiring music):

Be More...known and knowing.

Share yourself. Be the best Visiting Teacher ever.
Be an abundant sister, daughter, wife, mother, friend.
Get to know those around you and let them in so they will know you.

Be More...uninhibited.

Just say it. Just do it. I did not want to jump in the lake.
Cold, lots of cold, lots of deep dark depths...but I knew myself and those
were just surface feelings because truly I am more adventurous, more fun loving?
So, if it's scary (or unflattering), do it with pizazz, at least you'll look back with a smile. Jared is so good at just doing things even if he feels apprehensive (you'd never guess would you?) or unsure if it will work out.
This year I want to be more proactive.

Be more...true.

I think about my primary role and commitments of
everyday life---making an orderly, inviting, happy home. Being
true to those dreams and hopes surrounding motherhood and companionship.

Be more...energetic.

When I think back on my best days this past year, they are the
ones filled. That's all. Just filled. Filled with people, filled with fun, filled with nothing to do, filled with a huge to-do list, filled with spontaneity, filled with routine. Funny how some of those seem contradictory, but you can't have spontaneity without having routine.
How fun is hanging out with mom until 10 pm if you always get to stay awake until 10? I just dread the mundane and half-hearted.

Last year I set some big ideas for myself for example getting to be earlier. The hard-headed night owl in me pretty regularly gets to bed around 10 pm. For some reason I feel like Denise will be happy to hear that. I shimmied off all the extra fluff from Thing One and Thing Two by the end of summer and actually enjoyed the process of loosing weight. I am WAAAAY more organized, my house is cleaner, I follow through with things and obligations. A lot of this a result of necessity (like my eyelids are stuck shut out of exhaustion and I simply can't stay awake...) But here's the thing. I'm far, far from perfect, but I've felt successful enough (and that's the key) to find setting ideals worthwhile. So here's to a great 2008.