Snapped this photo on my run on Thanksgiving morning! I love where I live because of it’s close proximity to both nature and the city. I feel so lucky to get a taste of both.

As we only have one more month left in the year, I’ve been thinking about the goals I set last year and how it worked out for me. Many of the lofty goals I set for myself I did not accomplish. But then, many great things happened that I had no way of predicting! The goals that didn’t work for me this year included such things as: show at such and such gallery, sell my work for x amount, be written about in this magazine, win this contest, etc. What I’ve noticed is that these kinds of goals are counterproductive because they can make you feel helpless if you don’t achieve them–and much of achieving them depends on things or people outside of your control. Also, these are HAVING goals, not BEING goals. Really, we are happy when we are BEING a person we are proud of and excited to be, rather than HAVING a certain accomplishment or milestone. So this year’s goals will be all about BEING. Being the kind of artist who works for several hours a day in her studio, making the best work she can. Visiting galleries and museums. Thoughtfully curating exhibitions. A work ethic that is not dependent on the outcome, but on who I think of myself to be. These are the kinds of goals, I believe, that are more worthwhile long term, and will produce integrity in an art practice. What do you think, what kinds of goals do you have for the upcoming New Year?