New Year, New dreams – lessons learned and future plans.
(Do you know what you’re doing and why?)
Resolutions for the new year can come from a variety of perspectives. They can express a need to rid yourself of damaging habits that affect your physical and mental wellbeing. They can resurrect your longing for bygone feelings generated by lost energy and a lack of purpose. They can take form through conversations with yourself. They result from examining your position in the cycle of life and your proximity to its end. Resolutions can bring new dimensions to your life and your pursuits.
Normally, for me, the process of coming up with a few resolutions is one where I take a sheet of paper, sit for a considerable amount of time, and list the actions that I want to make as commitments for the new year and beyond. This year, I’ve decided on a different approach. Motivated in large part by the imminent arrival of my 80th birthday, I have decided it’s more critical to change my focus from looking for what’s wrong and shift to seeking what is most important and how to balance my commitments and time relative to those choices.
What are some of those decisions? First to pop up on the list is my commitment to my wife and family. The motive is reciprocal and connective. I don’t have feelings that I’m neglectful of this, but I believe I could be more purposeful in the use of this time allocation. So, my resolution is that I will strive to listen more closely, be responsive rather than lecturing, and reach out more frequently to raise my awareness of my family’s status and communicate mine.
Second is my attitude and commitment to my art. The primary impetus is self-satisfaction and, most of the time, independent of any feedback. I’ve allocated a lot of time in the form of direct work on art projects and contributions to the sculpture garden as well as other public art projects. This has happened somewhat to the detriment of other objectives. My resolution is to dial back on the time a bit while focusing on the current set of obligations (i.e., saying no to and delegating work on new projects). I’m only committing to projects that satisfy me personally – a selfish choice but one I can afford to make at this point in life.
The third one relates to the connective nature of this community. I have a great amount of respect and appreciation for the people of this community we call Elements. I know that virtually all people have their idiosyncrasies and occasionally reveal traits that aren’t aligned with my values. But at the same time, if I can limit my need to express and hold to my principles without forcing them on others (or even verbalizing them, for that matter), those bonds that provide the connections will make this a unique place to live and bring happiness and content. So, that will be one of my resolutions.
Fourth and finally, I resolve to be less “preachy” and formal in my writing and so far, I’m not off to a very good start. This may be harder than I thought… but a little on the “necessary” side.
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