well, here i am in kenya.

I turned 29. So I’m trying to think of a good slogan for my year. I really operate well with defined goals, and I think I’ve had pretty good success with my New-Years-slogans (that one year I really did eat a lot more beets), so I thought maybe it would give me more direction to do that with my Birthday-year.

My overall goal for the year: Be Less Risk-Averse.

I thought about it on my walk to work today. So far, I have:

29: What’s the worst that can happen? I think this is catchy, and has a good tone. But on the other hand, the question sort of begs for answers, and I can think of far too many very horrifying things that I don’t want to have happen this year. The point is, I shouldn’t be focusing on the small likelihood of those horrifying things, I should be focusing on the larger likelihood that when I take risks it leads to good things (and mildly disappointing but not so horrifying and probably ultimately character building things). (Oh, I’m not talking about Wild Risks – I’m thinking more like Talk to More People, and Take More Emotional Risks, and Apply to Interesting Jobs Even if You Don’t Think You’ll Be Hired. Things like that.)

29: Because You Need To Grow A Backbone At Some Point That’s probably too negative, and I’ll just end up with a bad feeling inside instead of directed and inspired.

Soon You Will Be 30…Shouldn’t You Have Written A Novel By Now? Hmm. I think I was in a ‘negative space’ on my walk to work today. It has to do with my head being Way Too Full of the most recent WTO negotiating texts. Ugh.

MUPPETS! I just thought of that one. I’m kind of tired right now, but I have to say, it’s looking pretty good! I mean, Muppets. I’m feeling better just thinking about them. Jim Henson died young from overworking (well, from pneumonia. But he wouldn’t have died of pneumonia if he had stopped working and rested). So within the slogan there are all these layers, like:
- Working hard is good, because you can achieve great things (like the Muppets); but don’t work so hard you kill yourself
- I bet Jim Henson could have prevented the movie industry from being so stupid about CGI effects. Or at least would have shown them another way to be. Let’s go to more puppet shows this year.
- You know, I really like how you can tell what Muppets are thinking because they are such physical beings. So maybe it’s okay that everyone in a meeting room knows exactly what I’m thinking just by looking at me.
- I’m really feeling Pigs in Space right now. I wonder what that means.
- Did you know that for The Dark Crystal they totally created a world and its ecosystems and inhabitants, and then they thought up a plot? True, it’s not the best plot, but it is a truly inspired world – all the pieces of the ecological and social and political communities really fit together. That’s something inspirational.
- Muppets take risks.

Well, MUPPETS! is definitely winning by my count. But before I settle on it, any suggestions?