Around this time of year, millions, no billions of people begin to wonder and plan what they want to do with their lives in the next twelve months. I too rattled around with this idea and came up with what I believe are the top ten New Years Resolutions for all otaku. Read, enjoy and let me know if you agree or disagree and tell me your top ten in the comments section below.
The Top Ten New Years Resolutions For Otaku
1. Enjoy Your Life
One thing that I’m learning to do this year is accept who I am; and who I am is a nerd, a geek, an otaku. I may not be a full otaku yet, but I am definitely an otaku in training. That means that I have given up trying to be like “everybody else” and more like myself.
So phase two of this acceptance of myself is to begin to enjoy the life that I have created for myself. This means learning new things about the lifestyle I have chosen, and getting to know people who enjoy the same things I do. My number one resolution then is to be who I am and to enjoy being me.
2. Get To Know Your Friends
I have a tendency to isolate myself and worse; I tell myself that I enjoy being alone. Then, when buffeted by loneliness and acne ridden by Pocky abuse, I tell myself that it’s everybody elses fault. They’re the reason I am the way I am. They’re the reason I have no friends. They’re the reason I’m all alone.
My number two resolution then? Get out and make some friends and get to know the ones I already have better.
On the same note, making new friends and getting to know them better doesn’t mean just online. I suspect that the best way to know someone is to actually see them as they are… acne and all. There’s just something about shaking a man (or woman’s) hand, hearing their voice, accepting them as they are and knowing that they accept you.
So resolution number 2.5? Get to know people in person.
3. Get Fit
In 2007, I wen’t to my first convention: ComicCon. I was 43 and didn’t really know what to expect. What I saw were some of the best examples of cosplay I’d ever seen. My roommate, who introduced me to the convention scene convinced me to dress up for the occasion. We made homemade ‘zombie hunter’ costumes. Very poor zombie hunter costumes I must say; they consisted of a pair of ripped jeans, t-shirts stained with red food dye and paper face masks to block the ‘zombie virus’ from our airways.
In 2010 I plan on visiting Akihabara to see cosplay as it was meant to be seen, and I will be dressed up as Jet Black, of ‘Cowboy Bebop‘ fame. In order to look good doing that, I’ll have to lose some of this belly fat I’ve accumulated over the past few years.
Resolution number three? Get in shape to look good as Jet.
4. Get Out More
You must have noticed something by now. These resolutions seem to overlap each other and that’s the way it should be. New Years Resolutions are like pieces of a puzzle; they seem separate when looked at individually but when put together they make a fine picture of life.
But I digress. Going back to the isolation theme, I have a tendency to be fearful of meeting others. When doing so I tend to become self conscious and fidgety. Meeting others who share my interests seem to calm me down some, and I don’t worry if I’m being to talkative, or if I look too fat. So my fourth resolution is to either find a meetup.com group dedicated to otaku or creating one myself. That way I can find like minded people who are also looking for new friends.
5. Learn Something New
I like anime figures. However, I can’t afford anime figures; have you priced those things lately? But I’ve found something just as good as owning anime figures at a fraction of the cost. Papercraft. There are a bunch of anime papercraft projects out there just waiting to be built, and I only have to pay for paper and ink.
Resolution number five for me is to learn something new. Anime papercraft is one of the many options available.
6. Get Organized
If you ever saw my room, the first thing you’d notice is how cluttered it is. In order for me to have a place to put all my newly created papercraft figures or whatever anime PVC figures I’m able to purchase I’ll have to organize my room a little better.
Getting organized also means time as well. Fortunately there are ways to do this. A day timer, some of the free scheduling software out there, how can I miss. By this time next year I’ll be an organized maniac.
7. Save Some Money
I’m one of those people who’s always complaining that I don’t have enough money. Yet, I have little to none in my savings account. I realize that I don’t make a lot at my job (I just cleared $12 and hour), but that’s no reason to not save at least a little.
I read a book years ago called The Richest Man in Babylon. One of the most important points this book had to make was that everyone should save 10% of all of their income. Not making a lot of money at my job can make saving 10% a little hard, but it can’t be that hard to save at least 1% and work my way up to ten, right?
8. Help Your Fellow Otaku
Realizing that I’m not the only one in the world with the problems I have makes me realize that in order to improve myself, I have to share my ideas with others, right or wrong. This means I should be able to allow others to share with me as well. Otakus helping otakus is the theme of this resolution. That’s why I wrote this post in fact. I realize I’m no expert. But I can be if I’m open to sharing ideas.
9. Visit Akihabara
Akiba is to otaku what Mecca is to Muslims. When I go there I can only imagine what it’ll be like but I see it like this. New electronics, new anime DVD’s, new manga and me in my hotel room clutching bags of the stuff I’ve bought, grinning and drooling like an idiot. And enjoying it.
10. Go To A Convention
I’ve already spoken on this but a little expansion on the subject.
Conventions are where otaku can meet and greet on the otaku’s terms. When I went to ComicCon in 2007 one thing I noticed was that everyone was willing to pose for the camera, and did it with style and panache. Try going up on the street to someone and asking to take their picture, as I’ve done. Three times out of ten I was threatened with bodily harm.
I hope you’ve learned a little something about making resolutions from this article. Always remember that no resolution is written in stone. They’re more like water, winding it’s way around and being shaped by the life of the resolver. It’s not getting the resolutions done that matters, believe it or not. It’s the journey, not the result that is the best thing.
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