I love celebrating the new year.
NYE parties? I’ll host! (or co-host, my apartment is … ) New year’s resolutions? I love ‘em.
This year I co-hosted with my friend.
It was an EXCELLENT party, even with just four of us. We had arts & crafts, too many snacks, Eritrean dinner, edibles, music, dancing, make up, naps and a LOT of fun. We toasted the new year at (approximately) midnight, and then we watched the first episode of Santa Clarita Diet.
I like making New Year’s Resolutions, too.
You might be thinking to yourself, “NYR are so arbitrary. Why should anyone wait until a made up date on a calendar to improve themselves! You can do it any day of the year, NY doesn’t matter”. And to that I say, keep it to yourself and I feel bad for whoever is dating you on Valentine’s Day. Besides, lots of people use lots of arbitrary “fresh starts” to improve themselves. The first of the month, the first day of the semester, Monday, your birthday, first day at a new job, et cetera. Fresh starts do happen all year round and making NYR is what we do on this one.
I even keep a list of my past resolutions, 15 years running.
And I’m not so strict about it like others are. I allow myself the entire month of January to settle on my resolution. And then, a few times through the year, I check in with myself and see how it’s going.
My resolution for 2022 was, “something something, less content”. I had an idea, I couldn’t think of a pithy way to say it, so eventually the rough draft was adopted unchanged. The main goal for that resolution was to stop being so chronically online. I’ve had poor results. Sorry. I still watch too much YouTube.
Before I reveal this year’s NYR …
I have a more concrete goal for this year. I’m going to read all 15 books of The Wheel of Time by Jordan & Sanderson. The series has a total of 704 chapters (including prologues and epilogues), so if I read exactly 2 per day, I’ll finish on December 18.
I set this goal for myself because 1) I’ve been wanting to do a reread of the series for some time now, 2) I’m still excited by the Prime Video adaptation, 3) someone in book club also wants to read WoT, and we made a parallel club to invite others to join us. (If you want to show up to our meetings, I can get you a link!)
So far, I’m two chapters ahead of schedule. I read the two prologues AND the first to chapters on 1/1. This month, the chapter numbers will pair nicely with the date, e.g. on the 9th I finished chapter 18. I usually read one chapter before work, and one chapter at lunch. Then in the evening I get an urge to tear through the series as fast as I can! So I channel that into reading a different book (or writing for substack, you’re welcome).
At the same time though, I am enjoying the experience of reading the book at this pace. I have an entire day to think about what is happening in the story and to wonder about what happens next. I’m not binging, and it’s kinda nice.
This year my resolution is 値する (“Atai suru”).
It means, to deserve. Recently I read somewhere about changing one’s self-talk in order to stop bullying yourself over failures of self-care. Instead of kicking yourself over forgetting to brush your teeth (or skipping it with a big, “meh”), one can say, “I deserve healthy teeth”. So, this year I’m going to try it.
I deserve healthy teeth. I deserve to get enough rest. I deserve to put work down at the end of the day. I deserve healthy food. I deserve tasty food. I deserve time to enjoy my hobbies. I deserve to spend time with people I like. I deserve clean dishes. I deserve a welcoming apartment. I deserve student debt cancellation. I deserve having my money in order. I deserve to feel good about myself. I deserve liking myself. I deserve movement that’s good for my body. I deserve clothes that I like wearing and that I like being seen in. I deserve to have my needs met.
Oh wow, that last one. As an Enneagram type 9, that last one really hits. Well, I guess if I’ve written enough to bring myself to tears, then that’s a good place to stop.
Finally, a list.
I talked about making lists like those in The Pillow Book of Seishonagon, and I wasn’t kidding. This prompt is my own. If you like any of these, you are free to use them as your own personal resolutions.
New Year’s Resolutions
Figure out who you want to be, then be it.
Dwell in your body
Read one chapter everyday
Right the ship
Make hay while the sun shines.
Ask for help
Road Trip
Fly the nest
Make new friends and write more
Hustle
Grind
咲かせる / さかせる (Sakaseru, “let it bloom”)
我慢する / がまんする (Gaman suru, “persevere”)
something something, less content
値する / あたいする (Atai suru, “to deserve”)