I’m behind. Again. This post has been procrastinated and interrupted so many times that it’s dangerously close to being ridiculous. Still, I am compelled to write it. Compelled by whom, it’s hard to say. Maybe by glances at the multitude of now-outdated January magazine issues boasting 276, 10 or just 1 brilliant way to do something or another “new” with your life in 2009. Maybe by society’s continual quest for “more” and “new”, the rat race of discontent. Maybe by my own thinking. Where do resolutions come from?
Thinking is a funny thing. I think. Although I do it constantly, it tends to be something I plan to do. I have a running mental list of topics, choices, concerns, and ideas that need further mulling in order for me to decide on a stance–thoughts that have been relegated to the pile of “this requires more brain capacity than I have available at the moment.” It happens especially when I’m feeling overwhelmed in mind, spirit and schedule. That’s where I’ve been. But, invariably if left unattended, those thoughts sometimes gain strength and power, bunch together with other thoughts, jump on board with various reminders from the world of my experience and wriggle their way to the top.
Thus, the resolution post.
It started as an obligation, something I felt I ought to do if I call myself a thinking, responsible human being. And, of course, any self-respecting blogger must post said obligation for all the internets to see and thereby hold virtually accoutable. Ick. Plus, shouldn’t I prove myself to be a “now” woman by adopting some habits to better myself and my surroundings in the year to come? Double ick. Since nearly 1/6th of the year is behind me, the ship of self-motivated, on-top-of-it Super Woman has clearly sailed. Still, my mind has been insistent on resolution-making in some form. How can I pay attention, if I can’t look at where I am, where I want to be, and how to get there? I even Googled “resolution” to try to gain some inspiration/motivation. You’ll be happy to know that the U.S. Government offers a glimpse at 13 popular New Year’s Resolutions. Thank you. About.com showcases a bunch of top ten resolutions, and not your average ones. There’s a top 10 list of resolutions for everything from your yard to your human resources department. Oh, triple ick. This year’s inspiration was hard to come by.
I usually take the 252 approach to New Year’s Resolutions–following Jesus’ model of growth found in Luke 2:52. (More on that in part 2.) But, this year, I just couldn’t start there. My thoughts were too scattered. Still, I wanted to come up with at least some semblance of a resolution before the year got away from me. Then, I came across a post at slightlycosmopolitan.com [awesome blog, btw] that inspired me. She described reading on one of her favorite blogs [don’t know the one :(] about the concept of a theme word for the year. She described it as:
“choosing a word to represent your year, a word that inspires and centers you, a word that reminds you what’s most important and what’s at the heart of all your other goals.”
Wow! It was satori, boo-yow, an aha moment, whatever. It struck me as the very thing I needed. I started with the basic question: What do I want to be different about my life this year? The core-level answer bubbled up almost immediately, and I’ve been brainstorming on it ever since. I’ll be sharing it soon (I promise) because it’s at the end of the resolution story, but the beginning of the resolve. And, I hope to explore it in greater detail at EyeJunkie as the year progresses. But first, the 2nd part of where resolution come from…
Hello & welcome! I’m Haley Montgomery, and I’m the designer and owner of 
