Day 09
In your own space, set some goals for the coming year. They can be fannish or not, public or private. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.
I have come across two articles about the topic of this Snowflake that I really, really recommend:
- 16 Elevating Resolutions for 2016 Inspired by Some of Humanity’s Greatest Minds
- 7 Self-Compassionate Practices and Habits for the New Year
During the last weeks I’ve seen many articles trying to tackle the problem of New Year’s resolutions. If you should make any, why they don’t work, how they can work. (Basically, New Year’s resolutions are like diets. They don’t work.)
Last year I’ve read many articles about psychology and creativity. One thing I’ve come across a couple of times is that there’s apparently evidence backing up the idea that people who focus on the process instead of on the outcome are happier and also more successful.
That approach matches the article about self-compassionate practices and habits. So I’ve decided to apply that idea to New Year’s resolutions.
I won’t make resolutions. I won’t think of goals and outcomes.
I will focus on the process and the journey. I will think of what I want to do – on the doing, not the having done.
Here’s what I’ve come up with so far (thanks to my quest to find an inspirational word of the year with the help of Susannah Conway’s “word of the year” project):
I want to be careful with myself. I want to keep myself safe, sheltered and shielded. I need rest and comfort and support. I need ease and relief. Lightness instead of tightness.
What else?
In terms of my personal life:
- I want to work on improving my professional life
- I want to work on editing the novel I finished writing last year
- I want to take care of my Dad
- I want to spend meaningful time with my husband
In terms of my online life:
- I want to keep my fandom life rich and diverse
- I want to maintain and develop the chatroom I run as a fandom space that is safe and joyful and nourishing for everyone
- I want to work on “The Resilience of Hope”
- I want to spend more time in Second Life
In terms of my emotional life:
- I want to “live the questions” (see the “16 Elevating Resolutions” I linked to above)
- I want to “heed the intelligence of the emotions” (ibid.), and just in general work on my mental health
- I want to hold onto my “enoughness” with my heart and with my mind (ibid.)
- I want to nourish my creativity