I was born into a large Southern family, fueled with cheese grits and dramatic stories of adventure and love: A great grandfather who ran white lightning, a grandmother who put passion before all else and a cousin with a proven strong right hook.
 
I have been feeling my own restlessness welling up lately.
 
I posted on Facebook a question, "Chrissy Clary is ready for a new adventure. Any suggestions?" After a quiet summer day watching the hummingbirds fly, and wondering if I should follow their lead, I was looking to the masses for help. But it was a small voice that grounded me.

He is a bossy 4-year-old who encourages my stability. Almost as if he can tell when I need it most, he quiets my longing with simple requests for time and attention.

We bond over Lincoln Logs and Legos. He inspires my creativity as he encourages me to paint for him. He touches my restless spirit and, unbeknownst to him, quiets it.

Looking into his big blue eyes I am reminded that all I need I have close by, that no longer do I need to succumb to the genetic predisposition causing me to constantly search.

I can leave the high-stake drama and adventure to the others, and I can derive joy from a new type of adventure, one driven more by teaching and learning and less by reckless escapism.

I work in a room full of journalists. They are print people. They work day and night to meet a deadline. Each day a new deadline.

At some point in the last 15 to 20 years they were introduced to the internet. From what I can tell it was a slow introduction that recently was accelerated by the shift in the economy.

A room of journalists, I can only assume, is much like other rooms full of print journalists working under the constant question of what the future will hold.

At this point theories abound. And none of them is an obvious large revenue generator. So the journalists separate themselves from the thought of how their mission will be funded and focus on the quality of their work and try their hand at learning a new skill set: the evolving beast that is the World Wide Web.

I find myself in a lucky position. I am a entertainment editor working fully online. Each day, I function in an environment fueled more by the hope of finding the link to the newspapers of the future than the guarantee of a big payoff. Of course, there is a hope that the link will be the payoff.

I can not speak to how my coworkers feel. I can only relate my own anxieties and hopes about the future. But let me make this clear: while there is a lot of anxiety, there is as much, if not more, hope.

Some may brush off my hope off as misguided enthusiasm. And they are welcome to do so, but as Janis Joplin once sang, "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose."

The shift in newspaper revenue, while devastating for many, maybe what was necessary for news generators at all levels to look at their processes and procedures and put innovation before income.

-- Chrissy Clary, Editor
 Three8six.com  

 

My landscape is constantly changing. I am faced with ever advancing technology. I said goodbye to another boyfriend candidate. The melting of the polar icecaps is increasingly becoming a dire situation and I gained seven pounds over the holidays.

I was complaining about the state of things to a friend recently. She simply said I was going through a "paradigm shift."

A paradigm shift? What the heck does that mean?

For weeks now I have rolled that thought around in my head. I have said it aloud. I have written it down, P-A-R-A-D-I-G-M.

I even looked up the definition. A paradigm shift is defined as a fundamental change in approach or assumptions.

By George, I think she is right.

I assumed I would be happily married living in suburbia by now. All grown up, steady and stable, with 2.5 kids and a dog. Instead I am a single mom living in a duplex at the beach juggling a career and home life.

I remember the Clinton years fondly. I was a wild teenager unconcerned with global climate crises or the threat of a second Great Depression. The most newsworthy story of the day was something about the president and cigar smoking in the Oval Office.

I spent the next 10 years trying to neatly package my life into what I thought it should be. Go to college - check; get married -- check; buy a house - check; have a kid - check. According to the instructions, I should be living the American dream by now.

Unfortunately I am, along with others my age, looking around and thinking, "Crap, this is so not what I had in mind."

Once I conceded to this paradigm shift concept I could feel my blood pressure ease. I needed to let myself off the hook for the madness and the mess and realize that we are personally, locally and globally experiencing the paradigm shift.

We all know the economy sucks, global warming is upon us and country music is circling the drain. I know I should meditate more, reduce, reuse and recycle, and maybe drink a little less -- yada, yada, yada.

My point is maybe instead of looking at the world around us like it is all going to hell in a hand basket, we could acknowledge the paradigm shift. And if you want, you could choose to believe that it will be a shift for the better.

Maybe through science we will learn to make a smaller environmental footprint with a larger population. Maybe Barack Obama will deliver the change we need and Henry Paulson will figure out how to bail out the bail out.

From here on out, I am going to listen to the bad news and react accordingly. I will recycle and I will buy organic food. I will drive less. I will floss and read to my son before bed.

I will do my part when I can. And I will support the industries and people who are working to build a sustainable future in this shifting environment.

And I will remember that I am living in a paradigm shift and it does no good to get all worked up about it. People will come and go. I can lose the weight. Maybe urban gardens will become common practice and the love of my life will finally arrive.

 
I asked the three8six writers to share their resolutions for 2009. Here they are:

Sara Kesler:
My resolution is to act more locally and continue thinking globally. There's Daytona's Saturday Farmer's Market I should go to more, local shops in DeLand that are healthier options for food, clothes and other goods, as well as riding my bike to go to Walgreens or Publix instead of driving my car.
     
Deborah Circelli
Work out. Stay healthy and have more fun, less stress.
     
Ken Willis
This year I resolve to dramatically reduce the number of "short" jokes I use at Randy Rorrer's expense. Yep, this year, I focus on his lack of intelligence.
     
Jordan Kahn   
Never have made resolutions. Do you want me to lie?
 
Karen Gallagher 
I hereby resolve, no, I'm determined, um, I plan to, well, let's see. I think I want to take the time to shave my legs more often. And if not, at least I'll try to hit the rough spots with the electric razor once in a while. 
     
Mark Harper   
I resolve to survive 2009 with resolve.
     
   
Tom Iacuzio
By the end of 2009, I resolve to be sitting on a beach somewhere sipping boat drinks, listening to the radio, never having to work again. But if I do have to work, it will be as a restaurant owner in said island or as a panhandler.
     
     
     
Rick de Yampert:
My resolution: To land a guest spot playing "Kashmir" on my sitar with Led Zeppelin during the band's reunion tour.


Kenya Woodard
I've got the usual bunch - lose weight, eat right, save more money, keep up with family and friends, yada yada. But the one I'm really excited about is taking up smoking. That's right. When the clock strikes midnight, I'll be lighting up AND inhaling (cigarettes, of course) for the first time. I'm pumped! No longer will I be left behind in the office while co-workers trot outdoors to puff and engage in conversation while I'm stuck indoors with the other do-gooders. No, sir! Tomorrow, I will buy my first pack of smokes and face that age-old question every cancer-stick sucker has had to ask: name brand cigs or the cheapos? Wish me luck!
     
     
Kelly Cuculiansky   
I'm resolving to become a professional tango dancer. Rather than do something unrealistic, like, say lose weight, I will probably quit my job and tour Argentina in my dancing shoes. (Really, I am going to dance in 2009. I've been talking about it for years.)

JAWBreaker (Jeff Wilen)
My resolution is to to solve the country's economic crisis, which in turn will shoot my income up substantially.
 
Morris Sullivan
For Christmas, I got a turntable that hooks to my computer, so I can convert vinyl to MP3 files. I therefore resolve to stop paying to download music that I already bought with my hard-earned lawn-mowing money when I was 13.
 
Cathy Klasne
I'm making a resolution I know will stick: to stay at home and watch TV more!
     
     
And my resolution?
Well, since the smoking thing was taken, I will resolve to prioritize my time and money according to the things I love the most, my son, my family and adventure.   
 
    C

Parrot feathers mingled with political swag as Jimmy Buffet took stage Sunday in Tampa, two days before the presidential election, in support of Barack Obama for President.

Click here to see Fins of Change photo gallery

 

The Parrot Head-flavored political rally had all the signs of a Buffet concert but featured a more serious message than cheeseburgers and juicy fruit. Fins were not just going to the left or right they pointed towards change.

Just before Buffet took the stage several political types encouraged those in attendance to get out and vote. The Tampa-based Floridians were repeatedly reminded of the state's part in the fumbled election of 2000.

Obama did not make an appearance at the rally but a clip from his recorded stump speech was piped in. The sound of his voice wound the crowd up almost as much as the Parrot Head national anthem, Margaritaville...but not quite.