Resolutionary War

It’s day five of the new year. I meant to write about resolutions on day one, but that obviously didn’t happen. Luckily, blogging is not on my resolution list, so I don’t consider this a failure. Nevertheless, I would like to discuss resolutions. It seems the obvious topic, so here goes.

To begin, why are we so drawn to New Year’s resolutions? What makes January 1st so much more motivating than any other day of the year? It really doesn’t mean anything, but I guess we feel more legitimately perfect if we can say we’ve always done such-and-such (or have refrained from doing such-and-such) during the entire calendar year. So what resolutions am I already slipping on and/or forgetting? Hmmm…

For one, I want to write in my journal at least two days a week. This shouldn’t be all that difficult, but it would actually be quite miraculous for it to happen. I think I average about once a month currently. I guess blogging is supposed to be a journal of sorts, but I’m not really counting it as such. Although, I will admit that nowadays I keep my journal on the computer rather than in an actual, tangible book. It took me quite a while to come to terms with this, feeling it is somehow less authentic and less personal to type my thoughts rather than to write them out by hand. But what difference should it make? Really, I can keep up with my thoughts much more when typing than when writing. It probably affects my mental state to a degree, but I figure if I try to keep a handwritten journal, my chances of writing are significantly less than if I type. So typing has become a necessary evil. And, hey, if someone ever actually wants to read my journal, I’m sure they won’t miss trying to decipher my handwriting, as pretty as it may be.

I also want to read at least 20 books this year. That’s less than two a month, and I realize for many people that’s hardly anything. For me it would probably be a record, although I actually got pretty close to that last year. I’m already compiling a book list. I want to read at least five non-fiction, three “classics,” and two “children’s” books (not picture books, but something like Peter Pan or Harry Potter). There are at least two books I want to read that are over 700 pages, so that’s going to be a challenge. Not that length means anything, but I’m (perhaps shallowly) motivated by seeing the end of the book drawing nearer and nearer, as though I’m getting closer and closer to accomplishing something. If the book is huge, regardless of how much I like it, I will probably adopt some sense of duty in reading it. That’s pointless. I guess one of my resolutions should be to get over this problem. It’s funny to me how even something desirable and enjoyable, such as reading, can benefit from setting goals. Why should we have to make goals to do something enjoyable? Because otherwise, we won’t even do something we want to do. How silly of us.

I’ve set many other goals, but I won’t bother going into every little one. I’ve probably already forgotten a lot of them. I was feeling quite excited on New Year’s, and I thought I had a ton of good ideas. Now as I ponder them, they all seem rather obvious. Oh well. I’ve divided them into four main categories: spiritual, academic, relationships, and personal development (which is kind of the miscellaneous category into which both reading and writing fit in, seeing plays and going to museums, etc.). Of course, I might as well add to them regularly if I think of things. Why not? True, it won’t really be a New Year’s resolution if I add it in May, but perhaps the best New Year’s resolution would be to make and keep resolutions all year long. I truly feel this could be my year. Here’s to wishful thinking. May it grace us all.