Shaking things up in 2014

It’s a new year, with a blank slate. How will you fill yours?

I don’t bother much with resolutions anymore — they never end well for me. But striving for a fresh mindset seems to work — at least until the chaos really hits the fan.

Living outside my comfort zone, as I have been doing in nearly all arenas of my life these past few years, keeps me on my toes.

It’s a big change for this former mouse. Reading about some of my adventures, you might be surprised to learn I was once accurately described as a doormat. No more.

Sure, life outside the comfort zone can be scary as hell. I often make colossal mistakes or play the fool, but taking a chance, trying something new, questioning the status quo offer wonderful experiences and connections … and life lessons not learned any other way.

Of course the key is to keep one’s sense of humor, which fortunately Basil and I have in spades.

Even when things go badly (and trust me, they often do), I find myself somehow better for putting myself out there, as we used to say.

So for 2014, I will keep it fresh by sticking with my now tried-and-true formula.

I will take deep breaths and step through the doors that open for me.

View from inside Innis Arden Cottage, Tod’s Point.

Perhaps I will wear a sombrero.

Basil, at our New Year’s Eve dinner with our friends, The Ritchies, at a Mexican restaurant last night. The four kids liked Mr. Basil’s look nearly as much as the grownups did.

But every day, I will aim to live out loud.

I hope you will, too.