Another end to another year is rapidly approaching us. Check in. Are you moving (towards) (away from) (in place)? Are you well?
Change is the most constant thing, but the desire for enough self-discipline to deliberately and positively change must be a close second.
Resolutions are lukewarm most of the time, empty without actions and intentions.
This year will be the year of whatever it’s the year of. Who am I to decide?
Still, I had this idea one time. Instead of aiming for a total reset, just try for more or less of something.
The pieces of your life are already there. Just rearrange them.
This was written earnestly in my journal as a list of tasks or intentions.
I found it fairly poetic and worth expanding upon, especially because I was writing to myself in my own language. “More of always reading” is a more likely phrasing than “I want to read more” for me. And when it comes to my own personal journeys, I don’t need to be concerned with making sense to anyone other than myself.
Also, notice that many of these use the present continuous— reading, eating, cataloging, etc. I hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but what better tense for a resolution than one that goes on and on?
This all has to do with living in the moment, taking stock of my physical, mental, emotional, and creative surroundings. As I work toward this endless goal, experiencing tiny successes and failures constantly, I will find more ways to say it. To remind myself.
At times, the abstract offers a direct portal into specificity. “Undoubtedly yes, oh yes!” is the same sentiment as “if it’s not a hell yeah, it’s a hell no,” a philosophy of complete certainty that works better in some cases (enthusiastic consent) than others (unexciting yet necessary obligations).
Other times, nonsense is just nonsense. Who’s to say what I meant by “cloud formations in the rain.” Maybe I was practicing living in the moment, watching the kaleidoscopic movement of the clouds as I tend to deeply enjoy doing.
I have less “less of” than I have “more of.” Since the goal is to rearrange the pieces of my life, I’m not necessarily trying to cut anything out completely.
Unhealthy disengagement sometimes can’t be helped. The mind needs a distraction. But by aiming for less of it, I can reframe the ways in which I disengage. Less of mindlessly scrolling. More of purposeful curiosity. And so on.
This format could also be used retrospectively. What did this past year give you more of? Less of? Are there noticeable trends that you want to sustain or undo?
What did you become this year?
I became a prose poet, a daily crossword doer, an amateur music producer. None of this is necessarily significant on a broad scale, but all of it is meaningful to me.
These are the rhythms of our lives. Let’s take a moment to listen in.