Oranges and Avocados

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Happiest of New Years to you! I hope yours holds in store vibrant health, laughter, adventure, creativity, and abundance. If this year shapes up to be anything like its first week, I am going to have a pretty amazing 2012. I have already made major changes, laying the foundation for a life that is more in line with the life I want to live. You can think of this post as my year in pre-view, a nod to the typed Christmas newsletter my mom, and probably your mom too, sends out with her Christmas card every year.

In 2012 I will work entirely out of my home! With many years separating me from my old life as a writer and content editor for an infant dot.com-that-could called Audible, I am going back to work online. I will be heading up Internet research and marketing at Morningstar Sourcing, my mom’s thriving candidate sourcing firm (that’s corporate-ees for modern recruiting.) I have been doing this part-time for a little more than a year. I am so lucky to get to work with my mom on a daily basis. Now I know why she has been so adored by everyone she ever worked with. I’ll be developing a new website and marketing plan for the company, establishing a blog and social media presence, and doing all of the Internet research and online sourcing.

I am ready to focus on blogging and social media. The act of blogging encourages me to experience more of the world around me, play in my kitchen and garden, expand my understanding of health, and explore my city. I maintain three blogs right now, clearly your favorite, Oranges and Avocados, Lighthearted Soul for reiki and such, and 365 Oranges, my new adventure in daily photography. I have other writing projects in the works as well. I wonder what 2012 will bring to these endeavors. I hope to learn to customize my blogs, to be consistent and engaging, and I hope you will keep reading and sharing! I am growing digitally too! Oranges and Avocados has a Twitter feed (orangesavocados) and a Facebook page. I also tweet healthy vibes at lightheartreiki.

The best news is that working from home frees me up to do reiki any time! My reiki practice, Lighthearted Soul Reiki, grew significantly last year, but I was often too busy with other work to encourage the momentum. Now, I will be able to see it flourish. I can meet with clients any day of the week. Reiki is a hands-on healing technique that engages the body’s energy system. It is a useful tool for removing the “blocks” that keep people from realizing their goals. Want a little help with a New Year’s resolution that is celebrating its 9th year on your list? Let’s talk. I am grateful for your referrals. I am dreaming of a peaceful room with wood floors and windows facing a garden where I can create the perfect healing space for my practice. Would you do me the great favor of envisioning me there too? Thank you.

This year, I made a mental list of resolutions that I have been successfully working into my daily habits, including reading for pleasure, urban hiking, eating more fruit, buying more of my produce from local farmers, returning to yoga, waking earlier, baking bread, connecting with my girlfriends, keeping an art journal, reducing clutter and waste. I am hosting a clothing exchange in a few weeks and hope to inherit a cute new wardrobe from my stylish friends while letting go of clothes I no longer wear. Thomas Keller’s quiche recipe is on the menu, which is another item on my to-do list. If you would like to attend the clothing exchange or want to hear more about it and host your own, please let me know.

There is good news from all corners of my family. The Husband is awesome in every way. Everyone is healthy, or on their way back to healthy. Those who have been facing the toughest challenges are winning gracefully. A prayer here for Cousin Tim, who inspires me with his mantra, “healing with every breath.” My parents are ecstatic living in Mexico. My brother is a celebrity chef. There is other good news, but I will save it for later posts (no, I am not pregnant people.). I’m grabbing on to all the goodness I can hold and feeling grateful.

I am going to rock 2012. Watch this.