Beyond Resolutions
n years past when I did New Year’s Resolutions I would have an embarrassingly long list of goals. While my friends would come with a list of three or four I would have 15. I’d habitually put my goals in documents, on my wall and in Pinterest boards. I’d create an even longer list of mini-goals leading towards the day when I could check off that project which I had completed or personal milestone.
This is the first year in memory that I entered the year without a single resolution. Not only am I okay with it, I had no twinge of guilt or discomfort at the thought. In fact I feel more free to pursue my goals.
Rather than taking the turn of the year to think about the future I spent time on the solstice to contemplate how I want to feel in each season of 2022.
This practice feels very much in line with nature, the lessons of the pandemic and the creative process itself. Both creative work and social change is also a process born out of practice. We do not climb one mountain and reach the end, instead we go through cycles of inspiration, work, discovery, completion and we begin again.
New Year’s Inspiration
Last year I started a new ritual. At the beginning of the year I listen to and watch inspirational content from artists and thinkers. Rather than resolutions I now see the new year as a time to reflect on what I accomplished in the previous year and and a time to absorb inspiration that will help me move forward into the year ahead.
I want to share this podcast with you about working on big ideas, Thinking Big, from Idea to Action. Host Antrese Wood of the Savvy Painter, shares thoughts on taking action towards our goals while acknowledging the cyclical nature of a creative process. She speaks about the importance of having a willingness to pursue our big dream no matter what and reframes obstacles as information that shows us what abilities we need to cultivate in order to move forward.
I found her reflections very affirming as she speaks about big dreams as a process rather than an end point. She share that what scares us is getting stuck in fear around how to do something. When the how of our path is unknown we can slip into self doubt. The key to keep moving forward is to increase our ability to be uncomfortable.
In 2022, I wish you success in your pursuits and an ever expanding ability to dance with the comfort and discomfort of the creative process.
Looking forward in 2022, join me for the workshop, Own Your Journey where over 6-weeks we’ll reflect on the intentions, experiences and approaches that makes your story unique and memorable. Begins February 9, 2022.
Learn more here, Own Your Journey Workshop