all these things that i've done
each january one brings with it a bevy of expectations and traditions, resolutions, and commitments to change for the better.
i have difficulty subscribing to any such practices. i refuse to let time be my enemy and to live within its constraints. how ludicrous that a new calendar year mandates change. if we were over-indulging at the end of the previous year, must that indulgence be synonymous with sin? or could it be, perhaps, synonymous with joy?
why must we always exercise more and eat less? read more and watch less? debate more and swear less? deny ourselves simple pleasures in favor of goals that arise from a distorted social conscience? i am not attempting to justify "bad habits" and "poor choices" by standing on a soap box, but simply to point out that life cannot be lived successfully in neat 365 day cycles that begin with denial and end with indulgence.
i think in milestones--my success and failures, my experiences--dotted along a running timeline. is that not what time is afterall? a framework, designed to keep us on track. to help us to plan. to keep the world turning, and new days coming.
so go ahead. make your resolutions if you must, and let me know how long they last. as an alternative, may i suggest reflection. consider where you've been and where you're going. what makes you happy, and how you will get there again.
i have difficulty subscribing to any such practices. i refuse to let time be my enemy and to live within its constraints. how ludicrous that a new calendar year mandates change. if we were over-indulging at the end of the previous year, must that indulgence be synonymous with sin? or could it be, perhaps, synonymous with joy?
why must we always exercise more and eat less? read more and watch less? debate more and swear less? deny ourselves simple pleasures in favor of goals that arise from a distorted social conscience? i am not attempting to justify "bad habits" and "poor choices" by standing on a soap box, but simply to point out that life cannot be lived successfully in neat 365 day cycles that begin with denial and end with indulgence.
i think in milestones--my success and failures, my experiences--dotted along a running timeline. is that not what time is afterall? a framework, designed to keep us on track. to help us to plan. to keep the world turning, and new days coming.
so go ahead. make your resolutions if you must, and let me know how long they last. as an alternative, may i suggest reflection. consider where you've been and where you're going. what makes you happy, and how you will get there again.
posted by mark at 11:45 AM
6 Comments:
My Dearest Mark, I agree totally! My "resolution" persee of this year is not so much of a new years resolution, just a resolution that coincidentally occurred around the time of the new year. However, what I do wish to point out to you is that LAST year, when I refused to make a resolution, you tried to force me to join in the new year's tradition! Well, perhaps there's your own hypocrisy :) Love ya anyway!
I think that the calendar year is just a marker by which many people choose to start afresh. Albeit, most get muddled in they whys and just have the compulsion to do, I think the notion of resolutions and the catalyst (new year) are valid only with the prescription that you've written.
New Year's resolutions are a celebration of everyone's ability to reinvent themselves. It's a particularly American concept- the idea that you can change who you are at any day of the week, that your background and past don't matter. It's part of the American Dream, really. I have no issues with resolutions. I like the ability to start fresh, if I so choose, every January 1st. I like setting goals for my year.
Also, Mark, I can hardly take you seriously when you write phrases like: "is that not what time is afterall?".
Zing!
hehehe
Surprising zen, young grasshopper....
Though, I hate to point out that you are suggesting a general resolution (paradoxically) not only to make no more resolutions, but to take on the tradition in a wholistic manner-- which I greatly approve of.
And now my head hurts....
Happy New Year!!!
i think i understand where you're coming from...
it's silly to resolve to change something about yourself simply because the time has come to switch from one calender date to the next.
that makes sense.
but remember also that people take advantage of any number of opportunities to begin positive changes in their lives. the beginning of a new week, a birthday, seeing an ex on the street who's moved on way before you're ready, suddenly not fitting into that old pair of jeans.
a positive change, a desire to better yourself, a will to live the best life you can- these are choices i believe should be applauded no matter what time of year they occur during.
and also, am i the only person who does on some level believe that it is inherently better to "exercise more and eat less" "read more and watch less" and "debate more and swear less" no matter how many times we may find these choices to be the more difficult of the two.
this "distorted social conscience" that you write about is only the basic human desire to make our lives better
sometimes it just becomes too painfully clear that no one else is paying any attention to all the things that we're afraid they're paying attention to
all we have to work on is ourselves
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