2015 Re-post of 69 Ways to Lick the Spoon

In honor of the New Year, I’ve been asked to re-post this blog from 2013.  It’s convenient because…while I haven’t blogged much in 2014, it’s partly because I’ve been busy with other writing.

Licking the Spoon is the title of my book in progress about food, sex and relationship.  It’s also my metaphor for living life with gusto.  This list is about finding balance between caring for others and caring for myself.  It also means trying to reject ideas and behaviors that hold me back from feeling good about myself.  I’ve re-read the list and think it’s still a pretty good one.  Feel free to add to it with some of your own!

1. Think about what’s really important to you in life.
2. Spend more time doing #1.
3. Think about who’s really important in your life.
4. Spend more time hanging out with #3.
5. Try to avoid as many things as possible that are not in #’s 1-4.
6. Buy a good wine just for yourself.
7. Have a glass of wine in front of a fire.
8. Read a guilty pleasure book or a piece of fine literature in front of a fire.
9. Relax and daydream in front of a fire.
10. Take a walk in a pretty place.
11. Go for a run in a pretty place.
12. Ride a bike in a pretty place.
13. Lift some weights and feel your strong muscles afterward.
14. Do some crunches and feel your tight abs afterward.
15. Do some lunges and feel your firm butt afterward.
16. Sit and stretch in every way you can and then feel how loose and tall you feel afterward.
17. Think about whether you get enough exercise on a daily basis and how you could find more time for exercise.
18. Put on some soft music and hum along.
19. Put on some loud music and sing out from your heart.
20. Dance sensuously while you hum or energetically while you sing.
21. Go to the grocery store and feel grateful for the bounty that is available to you.
22. Pick out some of your favorite, most colorful fruits and vegetables.
23. Cook a yummy healthy recipe for yourself.
24. Serve yourself with a place setting and candles.
25. Vow to eat fewer meals in front of the TV or computer.
26. Vow to get rid of some of the junk in your cupboard and replace it with healthier choices.
27. Throw out at least one junk food that is in your cupboard right now.
28. Think about how you spent your holidays this year, and whether that is the way you want to spend your holidays next year.
29. Think about what you could do throughout the year to add joy to your life.
30. Consider learning a musical instrument, or going back to one you once knew.
31. Consider taking a dance class, private dance lessons or just going out to some dance clubs.
32. Think about growing a garden, large or small.
33. Think about getting a pet, or spending more time with the pet(s) you have.
34. Consider trying out a new gym or a new sport.
35. Consider visiting a book club or a support group.
36. Think about a group that could really use your help.
37. Consider doing volunteer work with that group.
38. Consider whether you are practicing your spirituality in the way you choose, and if not, vow to take a step in the direction that would please you most.
39. Take a look at your finances and identify one way you could waste less money.
40. Take back one thing you bought and don’t really need.
41. Go through your closets and find unused items that you could donate to someone else.
42. Identify something valuable you could give to someone you love that doesn’t involve spending money.
43. Write a story, poem, letter, song or journal entry.
44. Share your writing with someone.
45. Forgive someone who’s hurt your feelings.
46. Ask for forgiveness from someone whose feelings you hurt.
47. Spend quality time with your child.
48. Spend quality time with someone else’s child.
49. Spend quality time with a child who doesn’t have someone else.
50. Honor your body in as many ways as you can.
51. Soak in a bubble bath (yes, even you guys).
52. Rub lotion all over your skin (yes, even you guys).
53. Get a mani-pedi, or mani-pedi yourself, and then admire your smooth, shiny nails.
54. Buy yourself a piece of fine bedding.
55. Snuggle in bed with your lover.
56. Snuggle in bed with your pet.
57. Snuggle in bed with yourself.
58. Run your hands all over your body.
59. Feel how soft your pubic hair is, or how curly your pubic hair is, or how smooth your pubic area is after you shave or wax.
60. Feel the natural wetness of your vaginal lubrication or pre-cum.
61. Smell or taste your sexual fluids.
62. Vow to resist feeling squeamish about your sexual fluids, or celebrate the freedom of mind if you don’t feel squeamish now.
63. Play with a favorite sex toy, or vow that you will at least visit a sex toy store.
64. Think about your lover, or vow that you will do something new to try to find a lover.
65. Think about what you will do with your lover the next time you see her/him, or what you would do with a new lover.­­­­­­­
66. Masturbate, and call it a nicer-sounding word than masturbate.
67. Feel the power of your orgasm, or the sweet longing if you don’t orgasm.
68. Think about whether you find enough time to pleasure your body, and whether busyness, guilt or shame play a role in not finding enough time.
69. Vow to find enough time to pleasure your body, or to banish guilt and shame.