No Resolution

No Resolution. Yes, that’s how I am greeting 2021.

Happy New Year to all of us. May this be truly a year of peace and healing and growth.

Back to No Resolution. First off, 2020 has certainly left us in an unresolved place. Many societal issues have been exposed with painful clarity. Resolution and reckoning will take quite some time, as well as willingness to go to uncomfortable places individually and societally in order for healthy transformation/reformation to occur. I doubt it will be either quick or easy, as much as its very human to hope for same.

The pandemic also is unresolved. There is progress in the form of vaccines which are becoming available. If things go to plan, and last year was certainly an illustration of that particular folly, then all who wish a vaccine in the US should have had their inoculations come summer. Of course, we don’t know how long the immunity will last. That will take time.

New Year’s Resolutions. There is a tradition where one resolves to do or not do a certain thing, generally with the aim of self-improvement. I’ve never particularly cared for resolutions, they remind me too much of Robert’s Rules of Order. And I’m not much on rules, either, particularly those that seem arbitrary, an external standard applied without a truly good (as defined by me) reason.

That said, I wear a mask, I keep my distance, and I do my best to obey traffic laws. Participating in life with respect for my fellow travelers makes a lot of sense. For me, this is about respect. Inconveniencing myself whether it be stopping for a red light or wearing a mask when I’m out of the house is fine. It makes things more functional for all of us.

But personal resolutions and rules. No thank you. They feel judgmental, in the sense that if I don’t “keep” the resolution, then I’ve failed. I’ve had quite enough of that sort of stuff already in my life. However, I am setting some intentions for the year. Approaches, directions, how I would like to be as this year unfolds.

What are those intentions? More fun, more openness. I’d like more creativity in my life. At this moment, I’m feeling like writing, and I also am getting ready to do more work with glass. I’ve done lamp work (beadmaking) and fusing in the past, and it might indeed be time to fire up torch and kiln once again. I’m intending to approach life with less sense of duty. There’s been a lot of that over the years, one of the hazards inherent in working in a helping/service profession. I don’t regret the work, and its also clear to me that some rebalancing is in order, not so much in the quantities of work and other activities, but in my approach.

Humor is important for me, and it helps me to keep a more balanced perspective on life and its circumstances. One of the fine things about 2021 is that the dates/days match up with 1999. So Gary Larson is recycling his Far Side off the wall calendar. This should help me stay in my humor zone. As its sometime is put, Gary Larson is my people. He has drawing skills far beyond mine, and he sees the world in a fashion that I “get”. I imagine him as the kid I would have loved to be sitting next to in junior high. We would have gotten into trouble, but boy would we have had fun!

So once again, Happy New Year to all, and may we find and use our senses of humor in this unresolved world of ours. Cheers!

Goodbye 2020 and Hello 2021.