I have no set plans or goals for the next year, but a vision—not of a single year, but of my future in general.

I'm going to live perpetually in the moment. The past is gone, never to return. The future is an idea in my head. I want to be conscious of what is before me, appreciate the good, respect the bad, and take none of it for granted. I'm almost always happier in the moment, and I plan for a happy year. A happier rest of my life.

I will write. I've spent the last two months writing almost every day, four or more hours each day. I cleared over 160,000 words in two months, spread through blogging, journaling, fiction, nonfiction, and various notations. I want to keep that up. I hope my brain will be kind to me and not give up or give in to procrastination, perfectionism, and laziness.

I will publish. I've been writing for a long time. I wrote poetry years before I tried my hand at fiction. I remember my first story at sixteen. It sucked. I've slowly improved and years later I'm finally tired of “improving” myself. How much better am I going to get? It's time to take the jump, and stop putting off my life's purpose.

I'm a storyteller. This is my vocation, my career, my job, my dream, my passion, my direction, my gift, my fortune, my present. It's time to prove I'm made of more than ten years of talk.

I will read...more! I spent the first seven months of 2011 absorbed in stories. I read all of Harry Potter, all of Tolkien, and many other stories Then in July I stopped reading, and until recently it's been a struggle to sit down with a book. A matter of concentration? Of interest? I don't know, but I hope to be a mega-bookworm once again.

I'm going to make a ton of friends, and try not to argue with any of them. I want to talk to everyone at least on a weekly basis. I want to get to know people and share with them the experience called life. I want to see the different ways we react to and overcome challenges, and how differently we respond to life's joys.

I want to soak up the human experience.

As you can tell, there's nothing specific for me in 2012. There's nothing definite other than a direction to move in. I want to stay in the moment, get published, read some books, and make some friends. If I can manage that, I'll look back on the year as a success. I'm not going to make it anymore complicated than that. 

What will arise will arise, what will pass away will pass away, and what will stay will stay. In 2012 I will be the epitome of cool.

Have a happy New Year!