Happy Resolving Day!

I received the beautiful and heavy 3 volume slipcased Complete Calvin and Hobbes for Christmas. A wonderful gift that will be in my family for a long time. So, in honor of the gift and the day, I chose this panel from among a dozen images for New Year's Day.

While this cartoon doesn't necessarily reflect how most of us feel, it does an excellent job in ridiculing how most of us act. By that I mean that we make resolutions and then we fail to keep them. We act as though we really don't need to change. We act as though we are happy with who we are. If that is so, then why put ourselves through the whole resolution thing anyway?

I've tried resolutions. I don't like them. But, as the dozen or so regular readers know by now, I'm not the best at hitting my commitments (like where the heck is that Frosty story, hmm?) Committing to accomplish things that I'm not really committed to in the first place is just a major energy suck. They drag me down, they sap my creativity.

[Please, don't misunderstand me. I believe that art (whether literature, painting, composition, whatever) is about 1% inspiration and 99% follow through. For example, anyone who thinks that a Mark Rothko or Jackson Pollock painting would be an easy thing to recreate versus, say, a Velazquez, hasn't stood before (or over) a 20' by 25' canvas before. Think about the effort to write and edit a novel, even a short story. The best ideas still need to be kneaded and worked into something viable and beautiful. Of course, there are exceptions. These exceptions take nerve more than effort, such as John Cage's 4'33" or Marcel Duchamp's Fountain. But they are only memorable for their cleverness, not their beauty. Sheesh, how did I get on an essay about art?]

When we think of resolutions, we are thinking of our selves. I can't resolve that Jocelyn will be a better spouse, but I can resolve that I will be. Resolutions are about changes to self. They're tough and I don't think that we respect them or take them seriously (of course, there are exceptions.) Plus, we typically state them as some vague future desire: "This year, I resolve to eat right and excercise more" or "I resolve to get out of debt" or "I resolve to spend more time with my family." I can't bring myself to say these things with any sort of conviction. They seem to be hectoring me to act. I can not tolerate hectoring, especially from myself.

But, I have a solution to this dilemma.

I resolve to write my resolutions as affirmations. That is, I will write ten "resolutions" as present tense statements of fact about myself. The fact that they are not presently true is irrelevant. They are affirmations. They are positive self-talk. By reading them or saying them everyday, I believe they will have more lasting and positive impact on my life than vague promises to myself stated on January 1st.

My next post will contain my new styled resolutions. Laugh at them if you want, but I'm taking this seriously. Or try it yourself. Take your forward looking resolutions and make them present tense. Read each way out loud and see which one makes you feel better and exerts more positive energy.

For those that have stuck with me through a very spotty December, thank you.

Happy New Year!