Jan 02 2009
Making New Year’s Promises - The Gentler Cousin of the Resolution
A friend of mine on plurk.com, LindaN , asked today what our New Year’s promises were. I never heard it asked quite that way before. It’s a poetic and beautiful expression of something that we’ve managed to turn into something to stress out about.
How many of us “resolve” to lose weight? The gyms will be crammed from now until the end of January. And then people will stop going. We “resolve” to give up chocolate, candy, all sweets in general. Seriously - that won’t happen.
But what happens if I take that “resolution” and turn it into a promise? I promise to be nice to my body this year and eat healthy foods and exercise. Suddenly it’s not a stressful event anymore. It’s something doable.
I always abhored the word “resolutions”. I chose to call them my New Year’s Goals. But I think “promises” is much better. It’s gentler.
So how can I apply this to my writing career? Here are some things I promise:
- To work on one creative writing project each day or do a creative writing exercise
- To send queries to magazines that interest me
- To focus on food and travel writing
What are your New Year’s Promises? I’d love to hear them!
Happy New Year WriterGirl!
I am with you. Many resolutions start out with good intentions but go by the wayside. Just listen to the Fitness Club ads on the radio and the Exercise Equipment on sale in today’s paper.
Your terminology is fitting for my plans for the new year. My “day job” is going great (Promotion and a Raise), so I can live on my laurels there for the next 6 months.
My new years promise is to seek out professionals to collaborate with in order to increase my writing skill. Blogging about Technology and Education are a fun hobby for me right now and I am working to make it part of my profession.
Sites such as yours are going to make this happen for me this year!
-Loren
http://theteachingbox.today.com