Resolve

For the past several years, I’ve taken on daily challenges. I’ve written a poem a day (which quickly became a haiku a day, and was in collaboration with my buddy Julian (who has been my partner in crime since high school). Julian made a Buddha a day. You can find this entire project HERE. ). I’ve take a photo a day. I’ve written 500 words a day. I’ve created every day. You get the idea.

So this year, I’m going back to writing every day, but 300 words a day. While 500 words a day was great, it left little time for revision or going back to certain pieces to flesh them out more. And the year I left it vague so that I could revise more, I generated less writing (surprise). So, I’m trying out a lower word count so that I can still generate some ideas, but also have time to revise as needed. (The 300 words suggestion, btw, comes from Anne Lamott’s book Bird by Bird.)

To compliment this resolution, I’m also going to focus more on putting my (creative) self out there. So, expect more blogging. Maybe more pictures! More stories. More words. More sharing. I have a tendency to hoard all of my writing, like some sort of ink dragon, and so I’m going to try to be better about that.

Obviously, all this writing will require a great deal of sitting at my desk, and my life is already pretty sedentary, what with my desk job. So to offset this, I’m going to walk or run every day this year. I’m especially excited about this resolution because I don’t tend to make fitness resolutions. My running game is better than it has been for some time, and I want to keep that business going. So here’s to miles in 2020!

And there’s one more thing. I’m going to make room and take time. I tend to fill up my schedule with tons of activities and events, leaving no time for creative lassitude, which is deeply important to me. I need lazy days to ruminate and think and do nothing. I need to let ideas simmer and see what happens. I need the space to pluck ideas from the ether and create with them. I need room for my soul to breathe. And that’s one of the most important things I’m going to work on this year. Leaving time and space for spirit.

Together, these goals cover the four worlds of the Kabbalah. I can’t take credit for coming up with this—it was my husband’s idea to create resolutions that covered the four worlds, and I loved it immediately! What a fantastic idea! As we drove back from Virginia, just in time to unpack and watch the ball drop, we discussed our resolutions and how they would fit into the four worlds. I love what we came up with! I’m looking forward to this year very much, and I hope 2020 turns out to be as promising as it seems right now.

Fingers crossed!!