Prospero Año Nuevo y Felicidad!

In Spanish it is customary to wish friends a prosperous new year, as opposed to a happy one; although the intent, I'm sure, is the same. I'd love to have a prosperous year, as I'm sure you would, and to that end, I want to think a little about what defines prosperity for me.

• Feeling awesome = prosperity. I've had the unusual luxury of the house to myself for four days*, purchased for me by my poor dog, whose chronic back injury made travel ill-advised. (He is now on a muscle relaxant and pain reliever, and is much improved, thankfully.) Because Doug was away, and because I had been given a Hannaford gift card, I went hog wild in the produce department and stocked up on greens and nuts and avocados and fruit and yogurt, stuff that is usually out of the budget, and which Doug would not eat anyway. This should not surprise anyone, but I feel so energetic! No more running out of gas at 2 pm. I need to find a way to do this all the time.
• Feeling awesome, part II: Yoga! I know this, I've been knowing it, but I get busy and forget. If I spend some time doing yoga every day, I will feel better, have more energy, and be more limber; all around I feel more like my younger self. Yoga is free! I can say I don't always have time, but I'm not going to say that; something else will go instead. How 'bout, I replace half an hour online reading news and politics (not the most relaxing activity) with a half hour of yoga. I think that will contribute to a prosperous year.
• Financial prosperity, of course, makes other kinds easier. For me financial prosperity would just mean enough to pay bills, eat well, have some fun, and not worry. Health insurance would be nice, too. I am percolating a plan for this. I am shooting for more than just-barely-enough; it would be nice to have some breathing room. Frugality is sort of my hobby; we are pretty resourceful, and not really into "stuff," luckily, but I'd like to have a little bit to save. More on this plan later.
  
• A wealth of ideas: Thoughts of sculpture still flit into my head, but such ruminations are like birds: if you don't feed them, after a while they stop returning. I may not, in fact, have time to devote to sculptural projects, but it may also be a question on allowing the ideas to gain momentum. I also feel like sculptural ideas inform functional ones, so creative aspects of my functional work can be nurtured by not letting the sculptural thoughts wither on the vine. To that end, I am going to start keeping a sketchbook to grab those fleeting thoughts and images.
• Love, love, love: may not be all you need, but what's all the rest, without it? I've got the good relationship thing (really: Doug is the bestest) but sometimes am too lazy to make the effort to spend time with friends and family, especially since I am an hour (at least) away from everyone. Will try to fix this in the coming year. Scrabble parties, and 80s Night at Bubba's Sulky Lounge. Let's do this.
  

*Actually four days is too much. I got lonely. Three days once in a while is nice, if only for the coming-home moment.