Although I could certainly stand to be more fit and more frugal, such resolves are, for me, a waste of time – seeing as how they fly out of my mind before my wedding anniversary rolls around. (Jan. 5, if you want to get us a gift!)

Last year, I resolved, as challenged by one of our pastors, to “know Jesus.” Well, that was both an easy A – and at the same time completely impossible. Because if you are pursuing God, He WILL catch you … And who can ever hope to know Someone so unknowable? And how would one measure such a thing? Good thing I forgot about that one too, as I might have totally folded in on myself trying to keep up with it.

For the coming year, I have chosen a resolution that is absolutely doable, easy to measure, hopefully helpful, and possibly FUN.

From here on out, I resolve to live in Chapel Hill.

That’s right. I’m going to LIVE where I live. I mean, I live here now, but really, it’s more like I SLEEP here, and do lots of other things – aside from grocery shopping – elsewhere.

Yes, I’ll be the first to tell you that I am addicted to Target – I mean, what DON’T they have? And it’s all so cute and sassy! BUT– first of all, there’s no Target in Chapel Hill, and second – it’s a huge chain store. I am also prone to click my way into debt on amazon.com – SO not local. I don’t even have to leave my house for this bad habit!

But that was the 2012 me. The 2013 me will first ask herself, “Can I acquire this widget in Chapel Hill from a locally owned business?” The answer will most likely be yes, and my path should be clear. If I’m going to buy something, I might as well keep the money close by, right?

When I went into business myself, I was forced out of the house to meetings of the Chapel Hill Leads Group and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, where I came face to face with the people whose lives depend on our patronage. These fantastic business people are doing their best every day to make a way for their families and provide useful and interesting widgets and services for their neighbors – i.e., YOU AND ME.

Now, it may not be possible to find what I need 100 percent of the time, but it’s worth a look-see, right? Even if I don’t find that particular widget, I’ll have amused myself in that funky shop I’ve always wanted to visit and met one of my neighbors. I would tell you some of my favorite local purveyors by name, except I wouldn’t want to leave anyone out.

That goes for edible widgets as well – locally grown or locally produced vittles (and beverages) from farm shares and vendors at our deeply cool farmer’s markets, locally cooked at local restaurants. Why would I eat frozen and/or pressed “food” at a chain restaurant if I could eat something from my backyard?

And then there’s local music.

I’ve always been a music fan, and when I came to Chapel Hill, I was charmed and surprised that I could see music up close – and actually know the people who made it! My husband and I rocked out – if that’s what you call what 50-year-olds do at a show – at the recent 15th Anniversary Celebration of Yep Roc records, a prosperous little local label that boasts a stable of artists from far and wide AND – from right down the road. Artists like Tift Merritt, Chatham County Line, the Old Ceremony and Chris Stamey are making quality music for discriminating ears like yours.

Plenty of other musicians – some that I’ve known since I was quite young – are still stirring the pot at venues like The Cat’s Cradle and Local 506. And speaking of my own backyard, my neighbor is in (what he describes as) an “all-fat-guy Link Wray cover band” called Phatlynx and – they’re a ton of fun! And if they gave out local Grammys, we’d be seeing montages of touching film footage of Don Dixon, Dexter Romweber and Mike Rank as they receive their lifetime achievement awards.

Anyway, that’s my resolution – to start really LIVING in Chapel Hill – eating its food, shopping at its stores, listening to its music. Shop local/eat local movements are popping up all over the place, and musician David Wilcox has a song about how an angel appeared to him and told him to “always go to East Asheville Hardware before you go to Lowe’s.” So it’s not an original idea, But it is a GOOD one. Let’s hold hands and jump in together!