Kick up those red shoes

My Facebook newsfeed the last week has been overrun with posts by people listing their New Year's resolutions for 2015.  I see long numerical lists itemizing what they accomplished in 2014 and more long numerical lists with highly specific goals for the coming year.

I've always found such New Year's lists to be a bit constrictive and limiting because it seems to be implying that at no point for the next 364 days will we be as empowered and full of possibility and choice as we are at the beginning of January, and that's just... well... depressing.  No matter what goals we set for ourselves at the beginning of the year, I think the year inevitably winds up being different from what we expected it to be.  But that doesn't have to be a bad thing.  If I were to go through the next 12 months bound by my numbered list of resolutions, what if a crazy wonderful opportunity came at me, but I was so bent on accomplishing goal #7 that I missed it?  I prefer to think that my year is fullest when I go at it without any side blinders on and am able to continually reassess my circumstances and set new mini-goals under those circumstances to work towards my ultimate goal -- the ability to make my living by doing what I love and being artistically fulfilled.  And in that respect, my 2014 was pretty amazing.  In a year when I started off in a multi-month job that paid the bills but offered little in the way of artistic satisfaction, I managed to stretch outside my stage management-only streak in my most versatile year in the city yet.   I finally worked as an associate director/choreographer for the first time, booked a few music videos as a dancer (discovering a medium I love, but had never given much thought to, in the process), originated a role in a workshop of a highly original, wonderfully creative new show (as a partying Jersey Girl lipstick lesbian, to boot), danced in two choreography workshops (one as a robot), had to improvise dialogue with a principal on a feature film, PA'd a short film, stood up for the safety of myself and coworkers on multiple projects, started a blog.... and was turned into a Lego.  If I'd made a numerical list of what I was going to accomplish this past year, I wouldn't have known to put most of those things on it.  And all those things were awesome.  And a few involved turning down stage managing an off-Broadway commercial show.  So my New Year's Resolution is to be like that little girl in the photo, kick up my heels, and just keep dancing away in my red shoes.  And to keep setting and accomplishing new resolutions all year long.