New Year’s Mantra: December 28, 2023-January 4, 2024
As I’m sure I mentioned last year at this time, I’ve never been a particular fan of making New Year’s resolutions — or of the whole holiday itself, for that matter. Everything about it feels arbitrary and like setting yourself up for disappointment. However, I do recognize the good that can come from using a point in time, no matter how arbitrary, to step outside yourself and take stock of where you’ve been, where you are, and where you’d like to be, and to try to set some intentions for yourself going forward. With that in mind, here’s this week’s assignment:
Instead of creating a list of resolutions for 2024, think of one central thought or “mantra” or guiding principle you’d like to remind yourself of throughout the coming year and use as a guidepost to keep you on track toward a particular goal, set of goals, or intention. This mantra can be a word, a phrase, or even a short paragraph, but keep it simple enough to be memorable and focused. Create a poster or other piece of art that displays the mantra, decorated or embellished in some way.
The Submissions:
by Heart of Darkness
Hard to narrow it down to just one mantra, but this one encompasses a lot of my anxieties about life I think…
by The Kisigliere
I love a ritual. As a non-religious person, I've been really drawn to the ways in which we can make meaning, build community, connect, and learn from the people/places/things around us. Its not drama i'm seeking ,necessarily, but a part of me wants to make a big fucking deal about as much as possible in this life. There is a centering that happens with ritual...as if you're saying, here, this moment right now, is important. In any case, the new year brings a lot of opportunities for ritual, and since none of mine (anymore) involve parties or bars or day long hangovers, I've found a few that I've stuck to for the last several years that feel really generative. At its core, I think a start, any start, offers a chance to take stock of what has passed, and dream about what is to come. I appreciate that the Gregorian calendar gives us this new start in the coldest months of the year, and with it the urge to hunker down and be a bit more self-reflective, a bit more still.
I was inspired this year by a piece of writing from Mary Oliver, a book-long poem called The Leaf And The Cloud. I am increasingly uninterested in the hustle/grind culture, in advancing for the sake of advancement. I know deeply that there is a high cost to constant extraction, to a calendar or a head that is so full there is no way to experience everything, let alone make sense of it. In more ways than I can count, I want to slip slowly into 2024...a gentle start to the new year. Here is the excerpt that I've drawn my mantra from..
"I have lit candles
(Though I am not ready, I am willing.)
I have placed one word next to another
to build something full of praise.
I have admired the hummingbird, dazzling among the lilies.
Also the tooth of the otter, the compost pile
The first star in the evening sky
(Though I am not ready, I am simmering.)
- Mary Oliver, from The Leaf and The Cloud
Slow simmering,
-The Kilsigliere
by Journal Kurtz
by Captain Quillard
If you’ve been participating or following along on this site for a while now, and paying even a little bit of attention, I’m sure you’ve noticed a pattern to many of my submissions. “Here he goes again with the negative worldview…”
For the last several years, I’ve been acutely aware of the “misery” in the world — not without cause, mind you: there is, in my estimation, more than enough evidence bombarding us on the daily to support my constant feeling that we’re sitting here watching our own extinction - the end of life as we know it, of democracy, of our country, of humanity, of the planet, of the world. And I’ve been hyper-focused on all of it, letting it poison me and my outlook, and allowing things to feel like — basically — everything and everyone is terrible.
And, look: I’m not one for platitudes and I’m (probably) not wrong. Shit’s fucked, and no amount of “Live, Laugh, Love” decor is going to change that. Furthermore, I’m not suggesting I should ignore it all and “don’t worry, be happy” — I want to stay informed and know about the terrible things even if they make me feel terrible. BUT…
Here’s what I so often forget: There is also so much good, and I am just so very lucky to be surrounded by it. I may not like most people, but I’m fortunate enough to have more than my fair share of incredible, wonderful, thoughtful, smart, kind, compassionate, funny, interesting, and all-around great folks in my life. Nature and the world around me present so many amazing things to me every day. Music and travel and food and books and any number of other “things” in this world bring immeasurable joy. I could go on, but the basic point is this: There is so much “magic” among the misery. I just tend to forget that, or not give it the same level of attention I give the shit show.
So, my mantra could’ve taken the form of any number of ways I’ve heard others say it: Whether it’s Ross Gay finding “delights” in the big and the small things around him every day, or Kurt Vonnegut making sure to stop now and then to remark “If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is,” or even the Internet meme I keep seeing that defiantly states “The horrors persist, but so do I,” the idea I want to latch onto for 2024 is not to forget about or ignore the horrors and misery, but to take the time and effort to notice (and enjoy, or celebrate) when things are great. Regardless of whether the magic is something huge (“Oh my god - I’m soaking in a hot spring in Iceland!”) or minuscule (“What a delicious piece of cheese!” or, an actual recent one: “Huh - that piece of sidewalk schmutz looks exactly like the shape of California!”), I want to give it as much attention as I do to all the misery in the world.
Maybe more.
by Espy la Copa
I'm late!
Here is the start of my best intentions to create something around my mantra that is beautiful and intentional. You might suggest my mantra should instead be "finish what you start," but let's not be too optimistic.
So, be kind. It's simple, and it's word art, and it's a trite statement, but I really need it. I have a lot of "fuck off, leave me alone" calluses that need wearing down. I need to open my heart a bit more and not immediately dislike strangers or people that need help. Let's work on at least 25% more kindness. I think that simply begins by making small gestures, like smiling and eye contact, that suggest, "Hello Human! I'm down to be a positive thing in this interaction!." Those small gestures are gateway drugs to full on kindness.
Next Week’s Assignment:
Create your own coloring book page (or pages) using whatever works for you - black sharpie, computer, pencil, etc. - and then color in your design with crayons or colored pencils.