This is not about New Year’s resolutions, because I don’t make New Year’s resolutions. I figure you don’t need to limit yourself to January 1st to try new things. And I don’t think it’s necessary for us to try to improve ourselves, because we are already perfect. We are God Essence, or (if you prefer) beloved children of God, and you just can’t improve on that. What we can do is spend more time in prayer and meditation with the intent of discerning the unique energetic path that each of us has, that will lead to an expansion of consciousness. As Rilke says, “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. . . ask yourself what makes you alive because what the world needs are people who have come alive.”
Nonetheless, it occurred to me yesterday to try a few new things, and since it’s nearly New Year’s Eve, I thought I might share my quirky new ideas with you. I invite you all to share any plans you have here too—whether you call them New Year’s resolutions or not.
I read in Parade Magazine yesterday that healthy active people simply stand up more! The article said it doesn’t matter if you get up and run a couple miles first thing in the morning, if you then go to a desk job and sit for the next 23 hours (you know, give or take a few hours for sleeping when you will presumably be inert too!) So I got this idea to tackle a couple issues at once: I decided that every time I feel like crying I will do ten jumping jacks!
Regular readers and friends know I’ve been grieving the loss of a friend and I’ve gotten kinda weepy this holiday season. It’s only been one day, but this jumping jacks idea has been pretty effective so far. I’m not saying I’m working up enough of a sweat to get any endorphins flowing, but it does nip the weepiness in the bud. On the down side, I’ve discovered I will need to wear a sports bra around the house. Bummer.
My other—okay, I’ll call it a resolution—is to watch more comedies. I’ve always been a big fan of the melancholy—be it movies, TV shows, sentimental songs, and novels. This has aggravated my grief. I do think it’s important to go through the grieving process—don’t get me wrong. But I’m feeling a little stuck. So I’m seeking suggestions of good funny movies and books to check out. I’m not a fan of slapstick or bathroom humor, but I’m open to suggestions.
So hey, if you want to tell me about your resolutions, that’s cool! I’m interested. But please do me a favor and recommend a few comedies available on Netflix. Many thanks, and Happy New Year!
Love the standing up idea! I moved a tall set of storage drawers, that cheap kind from target or such, from the closet into my writing room, okay one of my writing rooms, and put my aged MacBook on the top–let me stand and type/write! Did it at first to keep rear from going numb or hurting from so much sitting and writing. However, also recalled that was the way Hemingway wrote–standing up! Anyhoo, only used this method a few days before went back to seated process as seemed to have fixed the rear problem in a short time! Butt (haha) I’ll try this more in the future to keep up the standing more 8:) Happy New Year, dear friend and sister writer!!!
thanks, June! Happy New Year to you too!