I only made two New Year resolutions this year, which is exactly two more than I made last year. Judging by the way 2009 came and went, I probably should have made at least one: The year probably would have been less tumultuous for me had I bothered. Oh well, live and learn.
The first resolution I made, which I think will be exceedingly difficult, is to find the positive in any negative situation that happens to me in 2010. So, if I lose my job I suddenly have more free time to pursue other leisure activities. Should my car die, I now have an excuse to ride my bicycle more than I do (which is never because it has been at my friend Taryn’s house since March of 2009). I do not anticipate this being terribly hard right now, but over time, say July or something; I may just end up struggling to find a positive.
The second resolution would be to write more. Easy to say, easy to pen to paper, but actually quite hard to actually practice. I had a good streak going back in 2007-2008, but that eventually became like every other shuttered blog I have attempted to maintain that now litters the internet. Two things are going to be different this time. First, I am going to keep writing in the same blog. Second, I am going to will myself to write. Even if it is just a sentence or two, or maybe even a funny picture, anything that documents what I have been up or what I am thinking. I have discovered that I need an outlet, a way to communicate with anyone who will listen to all my gripes, quips and nonsense. Should I plan to avoid going insane in the distant future, I will need record of my musings. This may not prevent me from losing my mind, but it will give others a path to follow and understand should I eventually lose my grip on reality.
One of the unexpected benefits of constant writing is an enhancement in speaking ability. I do not mean rhetoric; I mean the simple of act of speaking better than I currently do. I have a bad habit, which is supremely disappointing to me, of swearing when I choose to relax with leisure substances (read alcohol). I am not against swearing, but I know I need to do a better job of utilizing speech that reflects my own intelligence and with focused purpose. Saying eff this and eff that is not effective communication. Using adjectives such as sick and awesome do not do moments justice, those words sour them.
Awesome is by and far my favorite word, but I may need to reduce its use in my vernacular. I would like to avoid trying to use overly complicated and flowery language masked with metaphors as well. I am not good at poetry; a fact I learned at about 4th grade. By that time I was acutely aware of my inability to string words together in rhythmic fashion. I could write poems that worked for the assignment that I was given and nothing more. I will never “wow” anyone with my sonnets. Sorry.
It’s not fair to just jump into my writing again as though I was never gone. I’ll update on my life today, so that when I do reflect on the year that has passed, characters and plotlines make sense. This isn’t a promise.
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1 comment:
As Mark Twain said, "There are so few words in the English language, we may as well use them all."
Don't beat yourself up over swears...just pick and choose them with surgical precision instead of falling back on them...
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