There is nothing like the mention of New year’s resolutions to polarise a room full of people. In my experience these words generally evoke a cynical response. Those things you do because you need to take your mind off the fact that Christmas has finished, it’s cold, very dark and you can no longer legitimately drink prosecco from 9am, perhaps thats just me. As a result of this rather blue demeanour it is with some reluctance I wrote this post last week and then decided not to post it. However, I then realised that I was letting them get the better of me..I had to bite the bullet.
Why? Lets face it, the reason to shy away from strict, life changing new habits, is a common one: fear of failure. More importantly when you tell people what your new year’s resolutions are, the fear of then being questioned about your progress with passing your driving test, choir singing or learning Spanish. Those pesky resolutions that you’ve made in hast. Not properly thought through at the time and that require a wealth of resources specifically motivation, effort and time and frankly, in February’s blackness, you are now lacking the pockets stuffed with vigour you possessed on entering this agreement. It is fear of breaking that verbal contract you have made.
So bearing that in mind, there is only one way I can go from here. Make some resolutions! Here and now, online for the whoever to view my potential failings and I don’t mean eating less crisps or making use of your slow cooker/breadmaker/insert other kitchen appliance currently gathering dust here. I mean new activities and habits that I think will push me out of my comfort zone and make me ultimately better at my craft. I started this blog with the premise of talking about writing and so far I’ve prattled on about..breakfast, christmas and The Pixies, hmmm. I have a long list of articles that I have either written or plan to write which I would like to post/write in the first place. So here is my plan to increase my body of work and hopefully provide some entertaining reading at the same time.
A short story a day for a week (no cheating allowed here i.e. putting up stuff I’ve already written, has to be thought up that day, no brewing whatsoever allowed) Date for that tbc
A blog a day for a month – February is blog month!
Regular attendance of a writing group – have only been to one of these so far and was completely naive about the whole process and was not prepared in the slightest for the fact you not only have to write stuff but you have to read it out loud to everyone who then critiques it The sort of experience that hurts you but in a good way.
Volunteer locally either coaching/mentoring writing groups or assisting a local good cause with their social media.
On a more personal note…
Successfully complete a 5 day (minimum) detox – already tried one of these and am not ashamed to say I failed on the first day.
Open water swimming (available in the local reservoir) something I hope to do when the weather improves a bit as apparently doing it now with no experience of water at very low temperatures is nearly suicidal) I am committed to this, I have bought a wet suit.
Get married. Meant to do this last year but maternity leave wasn’t quite the holiday that allowed me lots of time to plan a wedding. Will I get round to it this year? Watch this space.
Indoor rock climbing – I have attempted a little traversing in my time but nothing that requires a head for heights and a harness so this is the year I hope to give it a go – actually this saturday to be precise.
The majority of these activities will take place in my study (not the wedding) – which currently is a resembles a derelict wasteland come boiler room, populated by toys that have lost whatever bits that require them to function and drying washing. So my first resolution is to go and tidy it.
No comments:
Post a Comment