Non-Traditional New Year's Manifesto
I appreciate that for many, New Year's Eve / Day signals a reset in some ways: new goals, fresh starts, upcoming excitement. However, it is my least favorite holiday. The hands of New Year's Eve clock often feel heavy with promises we don't keep, breakthroughs that may or may not come, and changes we could have made the year before. In past years, I got around this heaviness by surrounding myself with positive distractions: people at church who might be able to help me believe that THIS year was MY year, friends whose optimism might rub off on me, confetti, glitter... the works.But this New Year's Eve, my original plans included baking a cake and enjoying close relationships. On a deeper level, I knew that in order to progress successfully into 2016, I had to get quiet and look back... which is counter-intuitive to SO many notions we have about what a NEW year represents. On the second day of the new year, I had the chance to do just that.Those who know me well, know that I've kept a journal from ages 9 to 22. In the years that followed, my journaling practice has been on and off, so I bought a new book and purposed to get back on track. However, since I was back in my hometown, I pulled my high school and college years down from the shelves and re-read. (No journals from grad school or after because... #life).I smiled (laughed occasionally). I cringed (a lot). I analyzed. I empathized. But most importantly, I meditated on loving the "me" in those pages. That was radical and life-changing for me.I allowed the "Me" of today to grieve the heartbreaks of the "Me" of then. I got honest with the "Me" of then... there were so many things I was not willing to admit to myself. I cheered myself on when I proactively made good choices and even when I stumbled upon good choices after-the-fact.The "Me" of today was able to discern that, in many ways, I spent a great deal of my past in fear.Fear of messing up.Fear of doing things 'wrong'.Fear of not being heard.Fear of being unloved.Fear of being unworthy.So, my past coping responses were geared toward achievement. Go. Do. Prove. Learn the terms. Play by the rules.I discerned what I needed to do in 2016 by looking back, and purposefully accepting myself & my evolution. I needed / need to embrace my own terms.While I don't have the details of how this will play out, I have identified a few key areas that I'd like to work on. These include:
- Refining, embracing, and articulating my own voice through my art & professional endeavors. I am a blend of analysis, story sharing, advocacy... and sheer, friggin, shenanigans. It's okay to reflect all of that. Those are my terms.
- Communicating my terms in regards to wealth & profit from my creativity. Rihanna put it this way, "Pay me what you owe me. Don't act like you forgot". My terms.
- Making room to add or subtract relationships, projects, and professional goals. Shame and fear can keep you playing solely by other people's terms. I've learned that is just not an efficient or peaceful way to live.
- Committing to explore what my terms are for engaging God and people, for creating art... for living.
I've lived rubric-style for long enough. It's time to begin using the resources I have to create my authentic curricula.https://youtu.be/BxIYqyQTOl4Image Credit: Createherstock.com