I do hereby resolve

For someone who has sworn to stay away from the tyranny of the new year’s resolution, I’ve been doing a lot of looking back and looking ahead over the last few weeks.

There was prepping for the most recent free class, “New Year, New Story,” for the Birth Your Truest Story workshop.

There was my New Year’s morning list, where I daydreamed about every possible writing project I might want to undertake this year (preceded by my New Year’s Eve adjective list describing how I want to FEEL in 2022).

There was my traditional New Year’s Day cleaning spree, which yielded a bin full of recycling and many more boxes to go through.

There was Day 2 of the new year culling of the new year’s morning list and the beginning of turning dreams into reality by slotting each idea into a spot on the 2022 calendar.

Whether any of that could be called “making a resolution,” I’m not sure.

Reduce to simpler form

I was interested to learn the etymology of the word resolution as offered on the Online Etymology Dictionary.

resolution (n.) – late 14c., resolucioun, “a breaking or reducing into parts; process of breaking up, dissolution,” from Old French resolution (14c.) and directly from Latin resolutionem (nominative resolutio) “process of reducing things into simpler forms,” noun of action from past participle stem of resolvere “to loosen”…

The Online Etymology Dictionary

That seems like a definition I can live with. Much more so than the word’s evolution: “New Year’s resolution in reference to a specific intention to better oneself is from at least the 1780s, and through 19c. they generally were of a pious nature.” No need for piety in these quarters.

All this is to say that I entered the first week of 2022 with something of a clear path ahead, at least for the next few months, which is more than one can say of the world at large these days.

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WRITERS

I invite you to check out the next Master Class (month four kick-off) for the Birth Your Truest Story workshop series, coming up this Sunday, January 9, 2022 at 9am PST/12 noon EST. Curious about the class? You can view (and participate in) the free class we offered on January 2.

Wishing you a happy new year, and may 2022 bring more dreams fulfilled.

P.S. I am not the only blogger with a slightly contrarian take on new year’s resolutions. Check out Kevin Brennan, Maggie C., Austin, Philosopher Mouse of the Hedge, Marina Sofia, CurlyGeek, and J.D. Moyer. And, because who can resist a good dog photo, Paul Handover.