I’ve always thought the celebration of a New Year was a silly, arbitrary thing. Yesterday was Friday. The day before was Thursday. Nothing really changed for anybody. But people take inspiration from all kinds of things, I won’t fault them for that, including dates. Lord knows I’ve made a load of resolutions and lists which each passing New Year but I never did anything about them because I was still the lazy bum who wrote them after January 1st. Why did I persist on writing these lists? Because the day after New Year’s Day I grew a year older. With each passing year, I felt it, like a counter on some death clock, slowly ticking up to my inevitable demise (some time around 86 would be fine thanks).
December 31st 2013 - I made the definitive list and pinned it to my wall. In 2014 I achieved exactly one thing from that list - albeit the no. 1 thing, “Tell her.”
December 31st 2014 - I was out drinking with friends when with 10 minutes to go before midnight, one of them screeched at me “We need to make a list! Things to do in 2015!” We quickly came up with a list of things to do, things to experience, places to go as I typed them all into my phone. I think we managed two things. I deleted that list about a month ago when I came across it again after months of having not pursued it.
December 31st 2015 - I was a bit ill so decided to stay in and watch Telly.
I remember reading, though for the life of me I cannot remember where, that a good thought exercise was to sum up a year with a word and then project what word you wanted next year to be presented by. Seemed like a good idea. I think for the last 3 years my word was “Stagnation”. I was too lazy to think of a new word.
BUT (there was always going to be a but) I’ve had a little bit of upward momentum this past year. After contributing to one web site I ended up writing regularly for another after the former had to close. Now the first site is back and I’m looking to contribute more to both, including adding yet another podcast to the internet. It was weird when voicing it aloud, but actually saying to a friend that after a year, I had precisely one step behind me. A million and more steps still ahead of me but I had one step behind me, which was one more than I had a year ago. Imagine where I could be this time next year! Two, maybe three steps closer to my goals. After years of nothing, it’s actually kind of nuts to see where you can end up if you just do it.
I’d add a 2016 list here, but frankly, I’m still too lazy to do it. Too lazy and too scared. But I know what I want to do in 2016. Some of it will be edifying. Some of it will be terrifying. Most of it will so so unbelievably nerdy it’ll probably drive even those closest to me nuts. Sorry guys.
PS. Happy Birthday to me.
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