Living a Fertile Life in 2012

A good friend of mine is in an improv theatre/comedy troupe called Mosaic. Their show changes based on 18 tiles representing 18 sketches. The shows change about ever 6 weeks and no two shows are ever really the same. Mosaic is at once funny, political, and biographical for each performer; it’s a neat experience.

One of her sketches when I saw her this summer was particularly poignant. As she does crunches, she recites a short monologue talking about how at the start of every new year, she makes a resolution to lose weight and get in shape.

“I declare my intentions on the internet,” she puffs, as she continues to pump her body up and down with each agonizing crunch, “but never really get farther than a few months into my resolution.”

She goes on to talk about why it’s important for her to get in shape (familial history of diabetes) and yet she just can’t see that resolution through. Her piece has stuck with me all these months in the run up to this post, my end of year resolution setting post for the next year.

And then I got a curious invite from a friend of my sister’s on Facebook.

“Christina has invited you to join 12 Months, 12 Challenges.”

The premise is simple: 12 micro-challenges for 2012, focusing on one challenge each month. For one month at a time, you commit to doing something every day for that month. Doesn’t sound too hard, right?

. . .

I posed the question on my Facebook page about how people plan to live a full, fertile life in 2012, beyond babymaking and betas and FSH levels. How will you commit to building a life of fulfillment in the New Year?

For me, it’s about conceptualizing 2012 as the Year of Living a Fertile Life.

I decided to approach this from a slightly more organized perspective. Living a Fertile Life, in my mind, is about committing to six Focus Areas:

1. Nourishment
2. Connection
3. Balance
4. Movement
5. Creation
6. Exploration

I’ll take two months out of the year to really work at each Focus Area. So, here’s how I’ve mapped out my year:

• January (Nourishment): Eat a solid food breakfast every single morning by 10am. No Carnation Instant Breakfasts. No glasses of diet Coke or just a cup of tea. Something solid, in my belly, every morning, by 10am.
• February (Connection): Get to know my husband every day… in the Biblical sense. *coughs* Right, moving on…
• March (Balance): Meditate and/or practice mindfulness every day. It could be yoga. It could be 2 minutes of focused breathing. It could be guided meditation as I fall asleep. Whatever it is, I’m doing it every day.
• April (Movement): Go for a walk every day. Assuming the weather holds up, this should be done outside. Doesn’t have to be in my own neighborhood but by midnight every night, I should have gone for a nice walk. Doesn’t have to be a long one either.
• May (Exploration): Live fearlessly and take a risk every single day. I challenge myself to do something out of my comfort zone every day. It could be making small talk with strangers while waiting in line. Making a story pitch to a reporter. Or skydiving for my 30th birthday… to which I’m 95% sure I plan to commit.
• June (Creation): Draw, paint or sketch every day. I don’t have to devote hours to it: at least a half hour every day. I’ve got a big blank canvas and I really need to start putting stuff up on the walls in my office.
• July (Movement): Couch to 5K. This time I can’t blame the weather. This will take more than a month (10 weeks, actually) but if I start in the summer, I’ll be more inclined to keep up with it then starting it in the winter like last time.
• August (Exploration): Read daily, four new books minimum (basically, a book a week). And no audiobook copouts either. Straight up sitting down and reading a book and turning the pages in my hands.
• September (Nourishment): Eat 1 serving of fruit and 1 serving of vegetables daily. It’s farmer’s market season, so this is perfect opportunity to try and eat as locally as I can at the same time.
• October (Balance): Infuse Judaism into my daily life. This means observing Shabbos every Friday/Saturday in October and going to shul every Saturday morning. The rest of the week, I need to do something to embrace my Jewish identity and faith.
• November (Creation): Finish NaNoWriMo. No more dicking around this time.
• December (Connection): Hand write a letter to a different person daily. It’s pretty simple, and I won’t use holiday cards as a copout to do it either. I’ve got 31 days to tell 31 people how much they mean to me.

It’s ambitious, yes, but when I see it laid out concentrating on different Focus Areas and knowing that each challenge is only for a month at a time, it doesn’t feel so overwhelming. In fact, I feel really excited seeing this list of what I plan to accomplish for myself this coming year.

I invite you to join me, to live a fertile life with me in 2012, no matter how you choose to do it. I’d love to see the 12 Months, 12 Challenges Facebook page become a hub for motivating one other. Big things in 2012. New things in 2012. Discovering nourishment, connection, balance, movement, creation and exploration in 2012.

Who’s with me?

I’m declaring my intentions on the internet and now, y’all have to hold me accountable now that I’ve done so 🙂

Wishing you all a wonderful, safe New Year this weekend and I hope you’ll join me in taking 2012 by storm!