Happy New Year

I love the start of a new year. Newness is my thing. It's like a drug to me. I crave the excitement of the unfamiliar. Starting a new year always gives me a little psychological boost that helps me to re-evaluate and re-energize.

In general, I don't make specific resolutions like "lose 10 pounds." I aim for big-picture attitude adjustments like "be more spontaneous" (the year I moved to Santa Barbara) or "live without fear" (the year I went to Japan and Ecuador and took creative writing classes instead of working). Doing things instead of working is kind of a running theme in my life. But I like to think that living semi-recklessly is just another way of refilling the well. Being a wastrel is pretty much de rigueur for professional writers, I think.

Anyway, as it turns out, I made some pretty big changes at the end of '07. It's time for me to make a responsible resolution for a change. So '08 is the year that I've decided to be extra awesome. And an extra awesome New Year to all of you.

No More Drama

I caught up with my dad this last weekend over brunch. One of the topics we nearly always talk about is my writing and how it's going. Though I ostensibly quit my job at Yahoo! to explore some more creative writing, the projects that have held the most appeal for me lately have been lifestyle-oriented articles. Perhaps not coincidentally, these also happen to be the projects with sizable readerships and associated paychecks.

I got spoiled during my three years at Yahoo! Being the travel editor came with many perks (getting interviewed for national magazines, scoring freebies from publishing companies, fan mail). Lifestyle writing (aka fluff) happens to suit my talents to a tee. I've discovered, almost by accident, that I actually like writing about fall's fashion trends or where to find the most authentic mee krob in Las Vegas.

So there is a part of me that wonders if my rapidly fading aspirations to be a literary writer are just a vestigial inclination from my emo teenage years. I had a lot of things to work out back then — a lot of angry poetry was written. As I've (against all odds) turned into a rational, emotionally healthy human being, I find that I've lost the need to share my innermost thoughts. I'm not sure I have that much to say. Be a good person. Life's short. Live and let live.

My teenaged self would be horrified by my vaguely Prozac-ish (I'm not on any medication) level of contentment. She pretty much thought suffering for your art was the entire point of living. Turns out I'm not a big fan of suffering.

I Give Up

After a couple of failed attempts at posting this past week, I realized that I don't really have anything to say right now. Which is a rare thing for me, believe me.

Life has been pretty great recently. Writers need strife. Happiness isn't very interesting. Just ask Tolstoy.

Keeping Things Interesting

Ever since my first writing gig as the Daily Bruin’s resident sexpert, I’ve been lucky enough to write pretty much exclusively about the things that interest me: movies, music, fashion, beauty, travel, and yes…that other thing. Due to a small communication breakdown last week, I went into an interview for a job that was beyond boring to me. Though the interview went smoothly, I immediately took myself out of consideration for the position.

I’ve never really understood people who choose to do something boring just to get a bigger paycheck. It feels like the career equivalent of marrying for money. As far as I know, we only get to go around once…I’d rather not spend the majority of my life being bored. I’ll take the hot sex and skip the conspicuous consumption thank you very much.

The Pleasure Principle

I am easily pleased. That is to say, I find life to be generally delightful. The upside of this is that I spend a good deal of my time being delighted. I find joy everywhere: the way the afternoon light hits the side of a building, singing along to a deliciously bad pop song on the radio, or even in the solitary, meditative act of doing the dishes. When you can get genuine pleasure out of performing ordinary household chores, you’re pretty much set on the happiness front.

Still, I try to be somewhat discerning. There is a downside to being easily pleased. (A girl could get a reputation!) And furthermore, you never want to feel as though you’re settling. There’s a fine line between seeing the good in everything and simply having low standards.

Nigella Lawson, my cooking hero, has this to say about pleasure: “I know only ‘guilty pleasures’ exist, but I have never seen the point of feeling guilty about pleasure. Rather, I see plenty of reason for feeling guilty about failing to take pleasure in things.” Who else dishes out charming little bon mots along with foolproof recipes for Cambodian beef salad and eggplant feta rolls?

Three Things

It is my personal belief that there are three major arenas in life that have the biggest bearing on one’s happiness: job, home, and relationship. Yes, life would be insupportable without friends and family (or food and oxygen for that matter), but those things are fairly constant, whereas job, home, & relationship are often in flux.

Throughout my adult life, I don’t think I’ve ever had all three line up perfectly at the same time. I have nearly always had two bases covered, but it seem(ed) impossible to get all three at once. Infer from that what you will. In L.A., I had an amazing bf and lived with two of my closest friends, but worked for a total psycho. In Santa Barbara, I found my dream job and also lived with awesome people, but had to work with a dating pool consisting entirely of college students and bartenders — fun at 21, less so at 25. When I worked at Yahoo!, I had a really solid relationship and a cool job, but I had to live in Palo Alto…which I think we can all agree is less than ideal.

The day that I gave notice at Yahoo!, I was completely single and staying with my mom in the East Bay. For one entire day, I had none of the three things: no guy, no job, no home. And yet, I remember feeling incredibly happy that day, ecstatic even. The very next day, I found my perfect apartment. Life has a way of working itself out.