New Year's and Chill
Resolutely Resolved to Rest
I’ll admit it: I’m a big lover of New Year’s resolutions.
I know some people (::cough:: sour-pusses ::cough::) say that most resolutions made on December 31st fail by mid-January.
They say that you can change at any time, and you don’t need a specific day to start afresh or dream a new dream.
These people scoff at intention ceremonies and year mantras, disdain journaling and goal-setting, and think starry-eyed envisioning is only for Oprah and Tony Robbins.
Naysayers and skeptics aside, I’ve always found something powerful in the clean slate and fresh start of a New Year. It’s the time after a big-stress season to slow down, process the past 12 months, and start thinking about the next 12.
That being said, I haven’t really made any New Year’s resolutions yet for 2022.
I’m pretty much coasting into January 1st this year with a sort of bemused surprise, as if I turned my back and somehow the end of 2021 did its thing while I wasn’t paying attention, like Chicken Joe catching a wave on accident while he was staring at clouds in the cinematic classic Surf’s Up.
I AM processing stuff from 2021 though, thanks to Year Compass and Susannah Conway’s Unravel Your 2022—both free and amazing resources to think about your past year and find surprising insights, growth, encouragement, and wisdom about all you’ve done.
Personally, I was surprised to find out that—stress and all—I had actually learned a good bit about letting myself chill out.
I ate the pastries.
I read the books.
I saw the friends.
I made the art.
I worked the job.
I did the projects.
I sent the mail.
Rinse and repeat.
Nothing major, but a whole buncha minor things that melded into a year that took me by surprise in its fullness as I looked back at the end of it, and actually made me proud of how I showed up in small and steady ways to myself and the people around me.
Anyway, whether you stand with the NYE resolution-makers or the NYE resolution-naysayers, I encourage you to take some time and jot down a few things you loved about 2021, a few ways you succeeded, a few ways you were surprised, a few ways you kicked ass.
Because you deserve all the bubbly, effervescent, and buoying pride that blatant self-praise can give…and don’t you forget it.
Love,
Annie B.
THREE GOOD THINGS
I’m obsessed with both Jilian Bell and Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Brittany Runs a Marathon has juuuuuust the right balance of optimism/realism for anyone who has tried to change their life and found the process…complicated.
Doing a Dry January? This NA tequila is a spicy dream. (I have yet to find a palatable NA whiskey tho, anyone know one?)
Dolly Parton is the world’s life coach NOW LET’S BASK IN THE GLOW.