On New Year's Resolutions

“Let’s turn over a new leaf

And baby let’s make promises

That we can keep

And call it a New Year’s Resolution”

~ ‘New Year’s Resolution’, by Randle Caltron, Willie Parker & Mary Frierson

from the Otis Redding & Carla Thomas album “King & Queen”, 1967

A new year has turned over and the time for resolutions is upon us.  You know, those promises we make to ourselves and others that usually last about three weeks into January.  Things that we are going to achieve in 2012, come hell or high water.  Let's hope the Mayans were not right about the whole end-of-the-world thing, because if they were, boy, ain't we going to look silly?

I'm not sure why one needs to resolve to do anything much starting on the exact date of January 1st, as if the changing of the year is any more significant than any other day.  In truth it's much like birthdays, where you make a big fuss simply because the Earth has gone around the sun once since... the last time you made a big fuss.  It's been suggested to me that the one-two punch that is Christmas and New Year is a period of holidays and hence a time of reflection and introspection.   Personally, I find being a part of a twenty-four-hour-a-day, three-hundred-and-sixty-five-days-a-year industry means that holidays are no more associated with the end of the year than any other time.  Mind you, making August 23rd resolutions doesn't quite have the same ring to it.

I happened upon a list of resolutions belonging to an American left-wing folk singer/songwriter by the name of Woody Guthrie (1912-1967), written in 1942.  They're amusing and quaint, sometimes even a little profound, and certainly worthy of some consideration.

(For the sake of clarity, Woody's list is in bold, copied here exactly as he wrote them, minus the small diagrams he drew on each line of the original list.)

1. Work more and better

2. Work by a schedule

I would very much have liked our Woody to start gently, but on he dives, straight into some real toughies.  I would dearly love to "work more and better" but really fear I'll have to settle for one or the other.  Both may be a bit of an overreach.  Not that overreaching isn't a worthwhile pursuit, but I think if you're going to make a list of things you want to do, it should at least be achievable.  Best keep the overreaching to yourself.  I've never been really good at that.  Maybe this year.

Schedules are all well and good and I have been recently keeping the diary/calendar a bit more comprehensively.  Next is to increase the whole twenty-four hours in a day to twenty-eight or so and I'll be all set.

3.  Wash teeth if any

4.  Shave

5.  Take bath

I certainly hope to end the year with the same number of teeth as at the start.

Shaving is overrated, and I would do it much less than I do already if it wasn't for the fact that I get somewhat less smooches from WonderWoman when I'm going the hedgehog option.

And for all those who question my sense of personal hygiene, I say this - I will continue to have a really good wash once a week, whether I need it or not.  Best not find yourself downwind.

6.  Eat good - fruit - vegetables - milk

7.  Drink very scant if any

Goodness me but my eating habits are appalling.  If they only stopped making fattening, artery-hardening foods so darn scrumptious, it would make 2012 just a little bit easier.

Other than the odd Bailey's, I rarely drink.  Too easy!

8.  Write a song a day

Woody Guthrie must have been an awfully prolific songwriter if he came anywhere near success in this one.  For myself, I will be content to write just one song.  One really, really good song.  My dear brother has suggested a collaboration which sounds to me like a capital idea.

9.  Wear clean clothes - look good

10. Shine shoes

11. Change socks

...and desperately avoid wearing clothes with whopping great brands on them.  I've noticed that my clothing selections are becoming more conservative as I get older, possibly because I'm realising that high fashion is a colossal waste of time and resources. 

12. Change bed clothes often

Embarrassing confession here: I'm so very, very bad at this one.  Maybe this year I'll be more regular. 

Who are we kidding?  No improvement here in 2012.  Bigger fish to fry.  Move along!

13. Read lots good books

14. Listen to radio a lot

Once the day is extended by a few hours (see resolutions 1-2), I'll be in with a fighting chance with reading more books.  I read more in 2011 than in 2010, but it's still an embarrassingly small amount.

Radio would need to get an awful lot better (especially commercial radio) for me to listen to any of it at all.  Let's not hold our breath.

15. Learn people better

I've said it once, I'll say it again: the world would be a better place if people just did what I wanted them to all the time.  Even when I'm wrong.

16. Keep rancho clean

See resolution 12.

17. Don't get lonesome

Surrounded by my family and friends?  How could I possibly fail?

18. Stay glad

19. Keep hoping machine running

20. Dream good

Clinical depression is a curse.  I wish, oh how I wish that staying glad was a choice.  I do know, however, that being content is a far better gift than being happy.  I will search for contentment and with it, peace.  With peace as the fuel, the hope machine runs smoothly and the dreams are indeed good.

21. Bank all extra money

22. Save dough

They say money doesn't buy you happiness.  I say I'd love at least one opportunity to give it a good shake.

The key to making really good money, it seems to me, is to be good enough at something that people will give you lots of money to do it.  I'm not sure I'm quite that good at anything.

Perhaps, it's all just a question of realigning my priorities and defining success differently to the way most people do.  See resolution 24.

23. Have company but don't waste time

This is a big one for me.  It was catching up with a dear friend that I hadn't seen for around fifteen years that prompted me to start writing the On Writing Blog in the first place, and for that, I'm eternally grateful.

People around us are so very valuable.  There are reasons that old friends are still friends even after circumstances mean that you don't see them as often as you would like.  Facebook has proven useful in maintaining contact, but I'm after more.  Be warned: if I haven't seen you or spoken to you in a while, I may be looking to catch up in 2012.

Even though the New Year is only days old, I've already caught up with a great friend I'd not seen for a while and one of the On Writing Blog's biggest supporters.  The result?  I was enriched, learned some new things, and a new idea for a blog post was born.

To "have company but don't waste time" is a noble goal indeed.

24. Send Mary and kids money

I'll swap this one for something more akin to "send more money to those less fortunate than myself more often".  I will do this since I am, along with the vast majority of my friends and family (along with the rest of Australia), amongst the wealthiest handful of people on the planet.

25. Play and sing good

26. Dance better

Can't dance.  Not quite to the same standard as, say, Peter Garrett, but dancing has never been a skill I possess.  I'm OK with that.

I would love to have more time to practice singing and guitar more, but once again, limited hours in the day means practice time is not always easy to find.  I'll do my best this year, but I don't like my chances.

27. Help win the war - beat fascism

Woody had a sticker on his guitar that read "This Machine Kills Fascists".   Perhaps I should get one for my computer keyboard.

Couldn't agree more, Woody.  I'll continue to do my best to remind folks that the kind of political neo-conservatism that is promoted by the likes of Tony Abbott is a mere few heartbeats away from fascism.  I'm sorry, but I refuse to embrace the obtuse ignorance and cold-hearted cynicism that the Liberal Party of Australia is peddling.  What's more is the party desperately needs to rename itself to once and for all cease its continual abuse of the word 'liberal'.

28. Love Mama

29. Love Papa

30. Love Pete

31. Love everybody

"I love you Mama! I love you Papa! I love you Pete!".  It sounds like a line from a Will Ferrell movie.

Since Mama, Papa and Pete would also seem to fit into the category of everybody, I'm wondering this list isn't three items shorter.

Seriously though, I've decided that I don't want to leave any of my nearest and dearest unsure of how much I care about them.  I want to make saying "I love you" more of a habit.  I'll be saying it more in 2012, and to more people.

32. Make up your mind

Seriously! And get a damned clue while you're at it, will ya?

33. Wake up and fight

I think there's something in that for all of us, don't you?  

Thanks Woody.  Happy 2012 everybody.  May it be a better year than the one just now past, and may you see your resolutions reach February intact.

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