New Year! Challenges and Changes Galore!

Hello, 2012!  I am so pleased to meet you.  Don't get me wrong, 2011 was amicable enough, but man, that year could be a real pain in the neck - literally and figuratively.  It was definitely time to move on, to reset, to start anew. 

Before I jump into what we've got going on here in 2012, I suppose a brief Operation Consumption Liberation wrap-up would be good.  First, my gifts wrapped in old calendar pages were a huge success with my family, which is good because I have more where those came from.  And my darling mother jumped on board and wrapped all of my gifts in old newspaper.  The paper and packaging challenge is definitely one that I intend to keep practicing every single day, though I might cut myself a tiny bit more slack in the toilet paper department!

I've been reflecting on the twelve monthly challenges I took on last year.  Which one wins the titles of easiest and hardest challenges, which one had the most and least lasting impact, et cetera. Here are the results:

•  Most Expensive: September's Local Food challenge wins this title hands down.  Every other month either saved me money or had no effect on finances.  I do think this was money well spent though, because:

• Yummiest. September (Local Food).  Man, I inhaled that fresh local produce. February (No Eating Out) and November (No Meat) win honorable mentions due to those months' parallel challenges to cook more for friends more and to eat iron-rich vegetarian dishes respectively.

Exhibit Yummy: Veggie Chili, November.

• Most Busy Work: The July Reduced Electricity and Water Usage challenge had me doing a ton of busy work tracking my water and power habits at home for both June and July and then analyzing the data.  Runner ups: January (No Sugar), September (Local Food), and November (No Meat) all required painstakingly scrutinize food labels in the grocery store.

•  Most Difficult, Physically: Tie: June (No Caffeine) and April (No Driving). Not only did I have to gradually ween myself off coffee for 6 weeks before June, but I still serious craved coffee and felt like I was sleep walking through my days. And April's excess of biking in the wet and cold definitely pushed me physically.

• Easiest, Physically: 3-way Tie: August (No Superfluous Web-Browsing), October (No TV/Netflix), and December (Reduced Paper/Packaging) didn't cause me any physical challenge at all.  Honorable mention: March (No Alcohol) was amazingly easy. 

Not staring at this screen did not pain me physically in any way.

• Most Difficult, Emotionally: June (No Caffeine).  Seattle was wet and cold and awful this June.  MISERABLE.  I really wanted that jolt of caffeine to drive my blues away.  Runner up: April (No Driving) forced me outside my comfort zone--biking in the cold, rainy city was a scary thing that I wasn't always overjoyed to face.

Marked routes don't protect much from cold and rain.

• Easiest, Emotionally: December (Reduced Paper/Packaging) and July (Reduced Electricity and Water Usage). By making simple changes in my behavior, I felt like I was a more conscientious inhabitant of this Earth during these challenges.

• Most Difficult, Socially:  September (Local Food) presented some social difficulties in dining out or at friends. Similarly, I felt social frustration in May (Reduced Frivolous Spending) when I went to New York City.   I was also surprised at how many friends felt limited by my decisions not to drink alcohol in March and to stay off Facebook during August.

• Easiest, Socially: July (Reduced Electricity and Water Usage). That month was really all about changing my personal habits at home and I didn't have house guests. Runner up: February (No Eating Out) could have been difficult socially, but instead, my social life thrived because I hosted, and was hosted by, so many people for home-cooked dinners.

Key to dinner party fun: mini pizzas!

• Biggest Lasting Impact: April (No Driving). True, this has a lot to do with the fact that I had no car from mid-August until mid-December, but even before August, I was doing great with my goals to buy no more than one tank of gas a month and biking to work several times a week. Runner ups: July (Reduced Electricity and Water Usage) and September (Local Food).

 

My trusty steed out for a July 4 spin

• Biggest Backslide: Tie: June (No Caffeine) and August (No Superfluous Web-Browsing). Boy, am I addicted to coffee and Facebook. It is as if I never quit either. You better believe that January (No Sugar) wasn't far behind.  I've also slid a bit in my efforts to limit all forms of Frivolous Spending.  

Despite backslides and other frustrations, I think I benefited a lot from being more mindful of my consumptions habits in 2011.  So much so that I am again committing to abstain from or minimize my partaking of a different thing or behavior for each month in 2012.  While I am starting off 2012 in the same place as last year (No Sugar, baby! Review my No Sugar guidelines here.) and I plan to wrestle several of my 2011 challenges again, this cycle will feature new challenges too.  AND I welcome your challenge suggestions since I'm still formulating my 2012 Monthly Challenge Schedule.  Plug them in the comments section or send me a note before January 25.  No promises that I will actually accept your challenge suggestions, but I will definitely give them some consideration.

Oh, Hot Cocoa, I just can't quit you.

Lastly (I think), I'm taking on another year-long challenge for 2012, which I will tell you all about in the very near future (maybe even today!).  Because I am sick of starting a new blog for every new year-long challenge I take on, I have decided to change this blog's name (but not its url).  So this blog will be called Operation: Liberation! from here on out. This little change allows me to explore liberating myself from much more than unhealthy consumption habits. 

I hope you'll keep following my adventures and efforts in the coming year and maybe even join me in a challenge or three!