A new year is approaching–rapidly! As in any day now…how did that happen? It’s true that the older one gets, the faster time seems to pass. And while I wish I could slow it down, I’m looking forward to a fresh start in 2019.
I gave up making New Year’s resolutions years ago–they just seemed so un-doable. Instead, I create biannual “manifestos”–one in January and another during my birthday month of July. I stole the manifesto idea from Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way, along with her belief that if I write down my desires, they are more likely to be realized. So my manifestoes are actually lists of things I hope to accomplish in the coming year, not things that will make me feel like a failure should I not accomplish them. Truth is, through the years some of them have happened, other’s haven’t; some remain on the list every time I create/recreate it, others I check off as “done” or take off because they no longer matter to me–I have been known to change my mind about things.
Regardless of whether the lists change (they never become shorter, by the way), they become a compass for me–each item a direction that I can take from one day to the next. I tape the lists to my desk top and use them to send myself on to a new adventure or journey, especially when I find myself bogged down in the day-to-day of things. Each item is a reminder that I have bigger, brighter hopes to reach for.
So here’s my list for 2019. It may change between now and New Year’s Day, its official publication date, but it captures the gist of things.
2019 Manifesto
___Start a new book.
___Carve out writing days each week at home.
___Meet deadlines.
___Use time more wisely.
___Work outside more.
___Plant wildflowers & native shrubs.
___Thoroughly clean one room each month.
___Write better.
___Take a solo trip.
___Go on at least two writing retreats.
___Be a better person.
___Ride a horse at least once.
___Have adventures, alone and with friends.
___Take pictures.
___Be honest!
In addition to this personal list, I tacked up the following quote that a writerly friend of mine recently shared–a decades-old New Year’s wish from Neil Gaiman (see more of his journal entries at http://journal.neilgaiman.com):
May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.
I second his wish for all of us!
katielamarjackson 