Reverse resolutions

"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new."

- Socrates

A new year ticks over, and it’s just another day. Although we inevitably understand this, it’s easy to be caught up in the allure of fresh beginnings, a new way, upgraded habits; a reset. And within this promise of newness lies a cascade of pressure, comparisons, and relentless lists; needs, wants, demands, and self-imposed expectations.

Who will I be, where will I go, how much will I exercise, learn, grow? Should I be a better friend? Am I pushing myself enough? Am I achieving enough? Do I have enough? Am I enough? Needs, wants, demands.

I am inviting into my own life a deliberate divergence from the conventional path - the practice of reverse resolutions: what can I let go of this year, both physically and emotionally? Can I allow preconceived notions about myself to softly drift away? Can I let go of being loud, impatient, judgemental, lazy, busy? Am I not a morning person, or is it just that I have repeated it until it feels real? Can I remove kitchen appliances I do not use. Clothes that don’t suit or fit me in this moment. Can I let go of wrongs that have been done to me, that I have done to others? Will I read all these books? Do I need all these comforts that make me feel at home and allow me to feel like me? (Reminder to self - I am not the sum of the objects around me and the thoughts in my head).

My intention is to shed these physical and metaphysical layers and concepts to create space, to delve deeper into myself, to experience, listen, share, and simply be.