How it All Began…Five Years Later

February 20, 2013 by 5 Comments

Happy Birthday to my blog!

Today marks the 5th anniversary of this little blog of mine.


If you’re new to my blog, and have wondered what the title was about, well let me tell you: A long, long time ago, in a land far away (Brooklyn) I hosted an online talk show for Elastic Waist, a blog owned by Condé Nast, and in conjunction with SELF Magazine. Well, being completely passive-aggressive in my career plans, I wanted to be seen as more than a video personality—I wanted them to notice me as a writer, but I didn’t have any clips to show them, so I started a blog based on The SELF Challenge. A three-month diet plan run by SELF. Hence the name The KIM Challenge.

My plan worked, I was offered a daily blog column (until Elastic Waist fell victim to the economy and the magazine pulled the plug)and this blog has lived on while I pursued various writing pursuits; writing for magazines, fitness and entertainment blogs, and eventually a book (Due out July 23, 2013).

And, that, my friends is why the name of my blog is The Kim Challenge.

When my initial stint with diet blogging started I expected it to last about as long as the diet. When my three months of magazine dieting were up I stopped writing, but two things happened to change my mind: the first was that people started reaching out to me to say that they really appreciated seeing what “normal” people ate on a regular basis, as opposed to the many extreme suggestions out there. The other, was that I really enjoyed blogging. I enjoyed the community blogging creates, hearing from people all over the world, and over the years getting to know them in the comment section.

Over the years I’ve become friends with many of you; I’ve visited you when I travelled or you’ve visited me on trips to New York, I’ve gone to bachelorette parties, stalked pictures of your adorable offspring on Facebook, or simply thought of you from time to time because you’ve shared stories about yourselves. All of that makes looking like a total creeper, taking photos of everything I eat in some seriously awkward social scenarios, worth it.

Thank you for reading my blog. Whether you’ve been here for five years or five minutes, you’ve made a difference in my life.

Okay, no more sap (but I’m a sappy kinda gal). Recently I’ve been giving some thought to the way I blog. Mainly the timing of my blogs. Back in my single days I had no problem curling up in front of the TV at night and doing a daily recap, these days my nights are usually spent doing some sort of organized activity, or falling asleep on The Fella‘s lap in front of the TV. I keep forgetting to blog. So, I’m going back to my roots, when TKC first started I wrote small blogs multiple times a day. Based on the fact that my days are much more free than my nights, I’m going to give that a shot.

To start, here’s a look at the ole breakfast:

Breakfast


I have discovered how to make the most perfect almond milk latte on Earth. I recently came to own a Breville Electric Milk Frother. In goes the almond milk, which is then heated and frothed. I like to add a bit of sugar-free vanilla syrup, which not only sweetens the coffee but the whole thing tastes like a big batch of whipped cream!
So, I add two shots of Nespresso to a cup of heated and frothed almond milk and my life has never been better.

Seriously, I will never be in a bad mood again. Ever.

I got the idea for today’s breakfast on our cruise (which I’ll write about later). Roasted tomatoes and scrambled egg/whites.

Now, I’m going to let the food settle into a nice cozy part of my colon and head out for a run.

See you later!

Kim

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2013: There will be Blood…and Running…and Blogging

December 31, 2012 by 2 Comments


I stole this from Pinterest, who stole it from another site, maybe this one.

Out with the old and in with the NEW YEAR!

Twenty-twelve was a landmark year for me, but that doesn’t mean it was easy. I’m looking forward to a slightly more relaxed 2013. I mean, I’m 30 now! My 20s (and well, my teens, childhood, and most of my babyhood—I was a very ambitious toddler) were spent being far too serious, working very hard, and plotting my world domination. I’m planning on letting loose a bit in 2013; dominating the world seems like an awful lot of responsibility these days. I think I’ll just focus on managing this one little life of mine.

  • Run a half-marathon (The Nike Women’s Half-Marathon on April 28, 2013 in Washington D.C., to be precise) and meet my Team-in-Training fundraising requirement. If you’re reading this and you know me in real life you may as well donate now because I’m going to be hounding your buttocks for the next four months. Link to my fundraising site: http://pages.teamintraining.org/nyc/nikewhlf13/kimberlyraemiller
  • Donate blood every two months. When my mother was in the hospital a few years ago she received close to 30-pints of donated blood, over the course of multiple surgeries (the human body averages about ten pints, which means she received three bodies full of new blood). There is always a blood shortage in New York (and just about every other place on the planet), and I am oh-so-grateful to the O+s out there for taking a few minutes out of their lives to donate their blood. Since then I’ve made a practice of carrying my blood donor card with me wherever I go and when I see those blood donation busses around town, hopping in for a little drainage. In 2013, I’m going to stop leaving my donations to chance and start making reservations with the New York Blood Center to actually go in and donate regularly.
  • Get my personal training certification. This was on my 2012 resolutions list too, but I got super busy fulfilling my other resolution to write a book ;) This year will forever be known as the year of the dumbbell.
  • Revamp The Kim Challenge. I wasn’t a particularly dedicated blogger this year. Most days ended with me closing the computer and backing away from it very, very slowly as to not get sucked back in. Writing all day every day was a bit exhausting (so was spending all day eating my way through bouts of procrastination), but now that that’s over I’m planning on spiffying up this here little corner of the Internet of mine. I’ve got some interviews lined up, reviews of exercise DVDs, recipes, videos, and more giveaways planned…and some other things you’ll have to keep reading to find out about. Muahahahahahah (insert strumming fingers here).

As always, I plan on exercising regularly, eating well (but not all the time, because life is meant to be enjoyed)—but those aren’t New Year’s resolutions, those just a part of life. If I just happen to look super awesome in a bikini come summer, so be it.

Happy New Year! What are you resolving for 2013?

Kim

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What do you do when you finish writing a book?

August 16, 2012 by 3 Comments
  1. Look around for things to do, because obviously there is something very pressing that must be done. Nope, there’s not.
  2. Resolve to read an entire formulaic mystery/romance novel in approximately 15-minutes, because words are fun. Right? RIGHT?
  3. Watch Downton Abby Season 2. All of it, in an overnight BBC binge.
  4. Get back to writing that blog you love.

Hey guys! Thanks for coming back to read my blog. Sorry about the hiatus, but sometimes a girl needs to hone her focus.

The past six months have been killer, and the next few weeks will be jam packed with excitement: I’m moving, taking a road trip to Niagra Falls, Heading out to Long Island for my Dad’s birthday, and then going to Israel for two weeks.

Yeah, that’s how I roll. Go big or go home when it comes to scheduling.

I have quite a bit of work to do in regard to taking my manuscript to book level, but for now I’m just chilling. I may even go to the gym.

An unfortunate side effect of the last six months is a 13lb. weight gain. Emotional eating: because somehow, emotional Zumba just wasn’t doing it for me. Considering I’m going on a beach vacation in two weeks, I’m going to do my best to give the delivery boys of New York a few nights off and actually visit the treadmill again.

Oh treadmill, I don’t miss you at all, but I think it’s time we got re-acquainted.

 

To celebrate my new found freedom, my parents drove into Brooklyn today. I have lived in my apartment for nine years. NINE YEARS! In that time my family and I have had Thanksgivings, Christmas’s, and Hanukah’s here (yeah, we’re a multi-denominational crowd— food and presents for everyone!) My apartment has been a big part of not only my life, but the life of my family; serving as a mid-way point for my parents on Long Island and my Aunt and Uncle in Manhattan. We had one last hurrah here.

I must admit, it’s not looking quite as homey these days:

I officially move in with The Fella on Monday. He’s already been in our new home for about three weeks, building furniture and getting it ready for my arrival. In the meantime, I pack. At first I was really sad to say goodbye to the place I have lived for so long, but as more and more things are boxed, it’s starting to feel less and less like mine.

Co-habiters, do you have any advice for a first timer?

Breakfast


Ezekial Cinnamon Raisin Bread French Toast made with egg whites and sugar-free syrup
Apple sauce

Lunch


Salad with roasted peppers, goat cheese, carrot, tomato, artichoke hearts, and heart of palm in a balsamic vinaigrette

Dinner


Brown rice pasta, broccoli rabe, TJ’s meatless meatballs, pasta sauce and nutritional yeast

Exercise:
Does wandering the aisles of IKEA for four hours count as exercise? Tomorrow…

Kim

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July Resolutions

July 1, 2012 by 4 Comments

Oh, so now it’s July. Every thirty or so days someone throws a new month my direction. When will this craziness end?

A funny thing happened between the hysterical freakout that I was having in the beginning of June and now—I found calm. I don’t have any less work to do or pressure to deal with; I just simply stopped focusing on the things I couldn’t change and started focusing on what I could do, bit by bit, and hope for the best.

I have no idea how this change occurred (maybe I’m growing up and becoming a rational and well-adjusted human being or maybe I’m completely delusional) or how long it will last, but I’m most certainly going to take it and run with it and use it as inspiration for my July Resolutions.

  • Work hard but short. I can’t escape this whole work thing, I have six weeks left of crunch time, but my goal this month is to remember to take intermittent breaks and not give self-degrading anti-pep talks when I can’t sit still for 12-hours at a time of uninterrupted writing. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the last five months it is that my attention span generally has 2-hour cap, and then I have to go for a walk, go to the gym, eat a banana, or watch something brainless on TV for an hour to let it recharge…and then I can get back to work. As in dieting or budgeting or anything else I think it’s pretty important to know yourself and how you function best in a work environment. Now I know.
  • Eat less dairy. I’m trying to phase out dairy. I recently re-read Veganist and the animal suffering aspect of the book really hit home for me. I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to cut it out completely in regard to social situations, but I can stop buying it for home use.
  • Blog more. I know, I know, I resolved that last month. The good news is that The Fella has finally hooked up a router at his house (for the last year I’ve been Internetless when I’m not at home), this should help with being able to blog on a regular basis. Hoorah. Of course, in another couple of months we’ll be moving in together and this whole issue will be completely null and void.
  • Give one compliment a day. Acknowledging people is important, even people you don’t know. Throughout the day I can probably list off a hundred nice things I think about people but don’t tell them. That’s a great shirt, you really said that well, you have great skin, etc. I’m not sure why it is I don’t speak up and say these things aloud, so when they come to mind I’m going to actually attempt to do the unthinkable, tell the people I’m thinking them about.

Certainly not my most ambitious month, but as I said, I’m taking this life bit by manageable bit. What are you resolving for July?

Kim

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June Resolutions

June 1, 2012 by Leave a Comment


Photo Credit

Oh. My. God. It’s June.

Excuse me while I hyperventilate into this paper bag.

[heeeeeee, hooooooo, heeeeee, hooooo, heeeeee, hooooooo]

Okay, that’s better.

This June I am resolving to work really, really, really hard, and be kind, and maybe do my best about not eating junk food and getting to the gym regularly. But mostly, I’m just going to focus on working really, really, really hard.

I have two months to finish the first draft of my manuscript, a task that has been much harder than I originally anticipated.

Uh, next time I decide I want to write a book, someone remind me to not write one about myself!

I do apologize that my blog has become somewhat sporadic in posting lately and mostly consists of me having a nervous breakdown, but that’ll be over soon enough, and I can go on about my daily business figuring out how to be healthy and happy and not a maniac.

So, here are my resolutions for June:

  • Write at least 1500 words a day. My manuscript is about half done, which sounds cool, except for the fact that I only have two months to spew out the other half. I spent a good portion of the past four months writing and re-writing the same sections. I totally spiraled down a rabbit hole of rewriting and now I have get out and get finished.
  • Keep getting up at 6am. Operation morning exercise has been going well, and it has definitely added a feeling of accomplishment to my days. I may not be able to go as hardcore at the gym as I like, but if I can get there four days a week I’ll be happy.
  • Balanced eating. I’m not putting any crazy restrictions on my diet. Gluten, sugar, dairy, meat, etc will come and go, but right now all I care about is fueling my body and mind efficiently, without over fueling so I feel all bloated and gross while sitting at my computer ALL DAY.
  • FINALLY PAY OFF MY CREDIT CARDS! Contract signed and my signing bonus is on its way, which means after months and months of serious budgeting and lamenting about my credit card balance I can pay off my debt and live within my means again. Yay means. Count that New Year’s Resolution accomplished.
  • Blog more. The reason I haven’t been blogging much lately is twofold: for starters I’m insanely boring. There is literally nothing going on in my life that is not staring endlessly at my computer. Secondly, I keep running out of words by the end of the day. I’m going to try, really try, to not spew boring things out into the Internet, but to blog more nonetheless.

That’s about all I can handle. What are you resolving for June?

Kim

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May Resolutions

May 1, 2012 by 1 Comment

 

Hello May.

Welcome to my life. I have been waiting a long time for you come around with your warm days and cool evenings, blooming flowers, and subtle reminders that life is better spent under the shade of trees than just about anywhere else.

May is probably one of my favorite times of year, it’s not quite hot but it’s not cold either, which to me means one simple truth: dresses and cardigans.

I love dresses, dresses are like pajamas you can wear outside. Can we all just agree that the world would be a better place if we could all just wear pajamas all the time?

Cardigans are like a security blanket you can wear.

Put them together and instant comfort.

I’m also excited about May and hoping that this will be the month that I finally find a balance between work-me and life-me.

To say the past few months have been demanding would be an understatement, but I think I’m finally burgeoning on a place where I can balance being a human being and work. So that’s what my resolutions for May are about.

  1. Blog. I miss blogging on a daily basis, but I’ve often ended my days feeling like there are just no more words left in me. So, I’m going to make it a point to blog more (although I’m reticent to define what “more” means just yet), even if it’s just one meal, workout, or life philosophy at a time. I’m starting this goal out with a giveaway so you should come back tomorrow for the opportunity to get swaggy stuff!
  2. Take time to live in the present each day. A manicure, pedicure, hour with a book (that I’m not writing), or dinner out with friends—go a long way to take the pressure off. I’ve been pretty hard on myself lately, a habit that has probably done more harm than good to my work. I’m going to trust myself to work hard during the hours I set aside for working, but also take a moment or two to veg. Chilling out is an important part of life, a part that I often feel guilty about.
  3. Cut out the processed, but don’t count calories. I have a trip to Israel coming up. I would love to look fan-friggin-tastic in my bikini, but right now I can’t handle the pressure watch everything I eat and log countless hours of cardio. So instead, I’m cutting out the processed foods in my diet—many of which are the fake meats I keep around for meals with The Fella. And trusting my body to know when and how much to eat if fueled with the stuff it would find in nature anyway.
  4. Set a sleep schedule. I have not been sleeping well and this has become a huge problem. When I was a kid and couldn’t sleep my dad would say, “If you can’t sleep, don’t sleep—but rest and sleep will come.” I’m going to channel that advice, even when my mind is buzzing under the covers and I’m itching to get out of bed and start scribbling my thoughts, I will trust that resting will do my body good, and perhaps even lead to some sleep.

That’s it, my resolutions for May are about not being perfect, but being good. I will trust in myself to do the best I can, but not worry about doing everything perfectly. Sometimes good enough is the perfect goal.

What are you resolving for May?

Kim

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It Took Me 3 Hours to Write This Blog

March 21, 2012 by 5 Comments


Photo Credit

    The Fella gently reminded me today that I haven’t been blogging regularly, and may have mentioned something along the lines of: your blog is one of the great loves of your life and you should probably not completely abandon it. I proceeded to have a head-spinning, pea soup spewing meltdown in his general direction. Ah, love!

If you read me, but don’t know me, consider this a good thing. If you know me, I’m so sorry. Saying that my personality is a wee bit “off” these days is putting it mildly.

There are some unexpected side-effects to my new undertaking (writing a memoir), one of the major ones being that I’m a big festering open wound of emotions all the time. I knew writing a memoir was going to be hard emotionally, I didn’t realize how hard.

I mean, I sort of knew, because I had written some of my book when I sold it, but I took my sweet time in writing my sample chapters, giving myself the emotional space I needed to get it out, let it breathe, make it readable.

This brings me to one of the other unexpected side-effects: Time. I have a whole new love/hate relationship with it. I’m working with a little less than five months of writing time to get my book done, and the pressure I feel to write something good, and true, and emotionally relatable can be downright paralyzing at times. It’s one thing to delve into your more emotionally trying memories and to put them down on paper on a daily basis, but unless you are a phenom (which you may be, but I’m most certainly not) the first draft is going to look a little something like this: “alskdfja;sdigua;skjfa;sldfkja;seilfa;sdlfjka;skldfj;asldkfja;sdjklf,” that is to say, relatively unreadable. I would say at this point I have about 80 mediocre pages, certainly not anywhere near the place I want them to be in order for people who are not my mother (who will love me even if my book is written in crayon) to read, and a whole lot more still left to write.

When it comes to time I now feel like any time not spent staring at a computer, hopefully making words, but often times copying and pasting and moving them from one place to another, is wasted. This means that exercise, which is my major stress relief in life has gone the way of the Dodo. Eating is also something that has become a sort of scattershot endeavor. Sometimes I do it, and a lot of it, in a bulk session. Other times I completely forget to eat for day long stretches. There is a reason I have not been actively posting my food and exercise logs, as I have for the past four years, it’s because they’re a total mess.

As totally crazy and dysfunctional as I may sound (and feel), I’m really happy. I feel really lucky to have this opportunity, and one of the reasons it is so stressful is because I want to make it something beautiful. I haven’t revealed what my book is about yet, but I will…eventually. While I certainly felt alone at certain points of my life, I know that there are a lot of people who went through exactly what I did (don’t you feel so much suspense!) and I really want to be a voice that does them justice.

I have reached out to a few of the professional writers in my life for words of wisdom in the last month, and one of the things that they’ve said (and I paraphrase since they’ve all said pretty much the same thing) is that it is totally normal to be a complete and utter basket case, and you will eventually find your groove and move past it.

Lord, I hope so. In the meantime I signed up for a running group that meets once a week. I’m going to relieve some stress if it kills me.

Brunch


Egg white omelet with avocado
Fruit salad
Marble toast

Dinner


Roasted vegetables, chickpeas, and brown rice with tahini

Kim

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Four Years And Counting!

February 22, 2012 by 10 Comments


I saw this on a notebook the other day. I love the notion of forgetting the definition of impossible. Sorry for the crappy phone-camera shot.

Yesterday marked the fourth anniversary of The Kim Challenge. To think of how much my life has changed in the last four years is truly amazing. When I first started this blog I did so with the passive aggressive notion of getting the higher ups at Condé Nast (the producers of my webshow, The Daily Special) to notice me. It worked. I got my first legitimate writing job. Nowadays I’m a bit more direct about getting what I want—four years later I’m writing a book!

When I first started this blog I was fresh out of a four year relationship. The kind of relationship that kills your self-esteem and then blames you for it. Back then my boyfriend cheated on me, then told me it was my fault because I had gained weight. The worst part—I believed him! When I started this blog, I started it with a redefined value for my body, its relationship with food, and my love of exercise. I learned to see my body through the lens of my own eyes and appreciation, and no one else’s. These days I’m big time in love with a guy that formally asked me (in my kitchen, while I made dinner) tonight if I would move in with him when I’m done writing my book. When we’ve talked about it before I have said that I want to, but that I can’t necessarily handle the stress of a move and a manuscript at the same time. In order to make it an “official future goal” he made a ‘proposal style’ request. This one’s a keeper.

When I started this blog in 2008 I had very clear cut ideas about who I was and how the world should be. I’m a little less sure these days, and I think that’s a good thing. If there is one thing that I have learned over the last four years it is that life has a magical way of opening your mind, taking you places you never thought you would go, and catching you when you fall. This may sound hokey, but if there is one belief that I truly take to heart it is that the universe will always give you what you need. Perhaps not what you want, but definitely what you need. Sometimes along the way you realize what it is you want is totally different than you thought.

This blog is a magical part of my life and I thank all of you for that. Whether you comment regularly or lurk by practice, I am so appreciative of your presence in my life. I know that we often see blog reading (I know, I read a lot of blogs) as a one-sided activity, but I can tell you that it’s not—you’re presence out there means the world to me. Thanks for being there.

Now, let’s eat.

 

 

Breakfast


Smoothie made with almond milk, vanilla whey protein, banana, and mixed berries

Lunch


Split pea soup (is it just me or does split pea soup always look like baby food?)
Brown rice tortilla with lite Cheddar and turkey

Snack


Watermelon

Dinner

I’ve become slightly obsessed with shakshuka, an Israeli dish where eggs are poached in a tomato sauce/stew of sorts. I’ve tasted quite a few variations, and have to say Iike mine with big chunks of vegetables. I winged it, this was my first time making it, it wasn’t quite as thick as I’d like, but the seasoning was good.

I used:

1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large Anaheim pepper, diced
1 orange pepper, diced
1.5 cups of white button mushrooms, sliced
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 28 oz can pealed whole tomatoes
5 eggs
1 Tbsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp Cajun seasoning
¼ cup water (I would probably cut this out next time)

I sautéed the onion, garlic, peppers until soft, and then seasonings and mushrooms. When the mushrooms start softening I added the canned tomatoes with their juices. I simmered the sauce on a medium-low heat for 25 minutes uncovered. When the sauce is only slightly watery (I should have waited a bit longer) make a groove in the stew to pour egg into. Crack egg into a glass, then transfer to pocket you made in stew. Add as many eggs as you have room for. Cook (I covered them for a more poached look, but you can do it uncovered as well) until egg white is no longer runny, but yoke isn’t completely hard.

Serve with pita and tahini sauce

Review from The Fella (my household Israeli), the seasonings were perfect, the stew itself was nice and hearty, but it was a bit too liquidy. The good news: This is super healthy dinner. A great way to get your veggies in!

Kim

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Bare “Feet”, Baby Steps

March 3, 2011 by 2 Comments

Today as I rummaged the Internet for entertainment I came across this vintage novel cover.  Let me ask you something: Is the fact that this woman is not wearing shoes the thing that really pops out at you in this image?

For me it was not even the fact that she was toppless, but the fact that her topless torso was hardcore muscular, followed by the fact that her neck is freakishly long, and lastly that she has pterodactyl arms.

Then there’s the fact that the old man trying to shoot her obviously found her doing something that upset him seeing as how she’s running away topless with the butt-trap of her Long Johns flapping in the wind.

But I must say, for a time when women were expected to lay off the weights and be soft and pillowy (which, well there’s still nothing wrong with) it’s pretty neat to see a woman as chiseled as that gracing the covers of pop fiction.  Rock on dino arms!

I’ve been thinking a lot about my muscles lately, and using them professionally.  Inspired by my vision board, I’ve been thinking about what I’m going to do come next week.  My jobby-job will be laying off a boatloads of staff next week.  You’ve never seen so many people so excited to lose their jobs.  It’s a sad reality, but an abusive work environment.  Even if I escape next week reliable paycheck in hand, I know I am not long for this job.  I don’t think the company as a whole will last much longer.

I spent this week making sure I would have freelance writing projects lined up (guess who will now be reporting daily on the New York bar scene?), and thinking about what’s next for me.  Based on my vision board and internal monologue, what I’d enjoy most is the opportunity to write and exercise.  So, I think I’ll start my downtime by renewing my spin certification and possibly look into other group fitness classes.  Then, on an afternoon call with my mom, the lady that knows me best in the world, said aloud the pipe dream I’ve let sit dormant in the back of my brain for years, “Why don’t you become a personal trainer?”

I’d really like that.  It would most definitely not happen over night.  There’s a lot of studying involved.  I would probably try to first certify for more group fitness classes, and work my way up.  But I think, down deep, my ideal life would consist of writing and exercise, followed by writing about exercise.

There, I admitted it.  Out loud.  For all the Internet to read.

I’m guessing this doesn’t exactly come as a shock to anyone, anywhere.  But I think there is power in putting things out in to the universe.  So bring on the layoffs, or don’t, I think I know which direction I’m heading.

Food time…

Breakfast

Whole wheat tortilla with refried beans, egg, guacamole and hot sauce
Orange juice

Lunch and Snack

I’m just going to keep using the same picture of this Ghobi Aloo because it doesn’t look as good reheated.

I find that kiwi fruit are a suitable substitute for sour candy

Dinner

I also find neon cocktails to be a suitable substitute for dinner.  Just kidding.  I went out for drinks with coworkers after work tonight (we figured we should live it up while we can still afford it), and then hustled off to improv class and didn’t have time for dinner.

Kim

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March Resolutions

February 28, 2011 by 2 Comments

This wall outside of a local shop pretty much sums up my life goals.

I think last month’s resolutions to focus on personal happiness worked wonders for the ole outlookeroo.  I feel a lot more hopeful coming into March than I did at February .  Maybe it was all the yoga, socializing, time off, and makeup that did it.  Or perhaps it’s just the fact that March brings with it the hope of spring and the idea of warmth, and snow free sidewalks makes me really friggin excited.

It’s probably a little of both.

Truth be told, I totally dug my resolutions for last month.  Usually my resolutions are all about self-improvement, but last month’s were just about being myself and I’m going to try and merge those two ideas in March.

I am in a wee bit of a transitional phase right now.  Since just about the beginning of my life I’ve known with absolute certainty what it is I wanted to do: perform.  My childhood was spent in acting lessons, dance lessons, voice lessons; I majored in theater, worked on screen in LA, worked on stage in New York; landed myself at one of the most coveted theatrical agencies, and even found a project I loved right here on the internet.  It may sound strange, but I reached a point where I felt satiated.  I have always been fairly lucky in finding regular work as an actor, but in the last year or so I’ve felt like I did what I wanted to do.  I have never felt any particular urge to seek fortune and fame; I just wanted to work on projects that made me happy, and I have.  I feel successful in that and also like it’s time for a new chapter in my life.  What was once my lifelong passion is really more of a hobby for me now.  I still perform and get joy from it, but it’s all much less urgent; it’s kind of freeing actually.

The thing is, without that overarching life goal I’ve felt a bit like I’m fish out of water, just flopping around hoping to land where I belong.  It’s time for me to reevaluate what really matters to me.

I love blogging, and have even found a modicum of success in finding freelance blogging projects.  Perhaps that’s where I’ll focus my professional energy next.  I’ve been working on a couple book proposals for a while now, and have had some positive feedback and interest from an agent—but I’m not sure that it’s the book I really want to write.  Maybe I should focus really deciding what it is I do want to write a book about.

I love food and fitness, maybe it’s time to recertify as a spin instructor, or look into nutrition classes.

There’s a lot of things floating around my head, but no real direction on how to make these things come together in one grandiose master plan for internet world domination, so this month is about being true to myself, and focusing on uncovering my next path.

Self discovery shouldn’t take more than 31 days, right?

March 2011 Resolutions:

  1. Create a vision board.  It’s time to break out the glue sticks, old magazines, and poster board—I little visualization can go a long way in inspiration.
  2. Focus on what is right.  Personally, I think we all spend way too much time focusing on what is wrong with our lives, and what we want to fix.  This coming from a girl who makes resolutions every month, obviously I’m a fixer.  But, I think that maybe that’s not always the best way to go, because frankly it’s depressing.  There will always be things that are wrong, but there will always be things that are RIGHT, too, and maybe those are the things we should be focusing more attention on.  This month I’m going to make a list of ten things in my life that already make me happy, and maybe start looking at how to expand those into opportunities for growth.
  3. Forget the world, Gandhi, I say “Be the change you want to see in YOURSELF.”  Perhaps it’s all those years of acting classes, but I am a very big fan of pretending.  I consider it training for my brain, and if I train my brain to feel the way I want to about myself, and about my goals, eventually they become second nature.  So for moments each day this month I’m going to pretend I’m already in my dream job and living the life I’ve always wanted…something tells me in those moments of make believe perhaps some ideas on how to move forward will solidify.
  4. Start running outside again.  Okay, not career related, but the weather should be warming up this month, and while my lungs and weather related asthma may not be totally ready for 5K jogs around the park for a few more degrees; I can do some walk-run-walks to ease back in before the mercury really raises—inhaler in hand, of course.
  5. Do my taxes.  Also not self-discovery focused, but a girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do.

What are you resolving in March?

 

Kim

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