From December 30th till January 3rd, I was asked what my New Year’s Resolution was. I would reply that I had none because, to me, they are meaningless. My New Years Resolution for 2011 was to learn to drive stick. I had one lesson which ended after 20 terrifying minutes. A second try involved a solo attempt to move my boyfriend's manual car into our garage. I stalled every time I tried to drop into gear. It would lurch forward violently and I was able to get the car half way in using this method before it died entirely. Needless to say, I will be keeping my bike ready in the event of apocalypse and both my car and my boyfriend are immobilized. Despite such a crushing failure of determination, I’d say that 2011 was still pretty action packed. I learned the basics of aerial gymnastics, performed as a fire eater, got two paid TV gigs, set a PR for 5k and ran my first half marathon, was crowned the first female Scareactor of the Year (voted by other actors) and also Performer of the Year (decided by management) for third time in a row for Halloween Horror Nights.
All in all, I’d say pretty damn accomplished.
So I’ve decided resolutions are not for me...
I’ve never had a problem trying new things and I can’t think of anything that fear holds me back from. Yes I’m often derailed by impatience, lack of interest, or shiny objects, but that hasn’t stopped me from feeling proud of the things I do get done. Nor should it put you off. Why should you take a task or goal and stick it up on the fridge, only to be ignored and put off? Refuse to feel guilty because you blew off going to some exotic club so you could finish all your chores. Why must a resolution be thought of in terms of 365 days? That’s a lot of laters and tomorrows that never seem to show up.Instead of resolving to write a novel this year, you can just aim to finish the first chapter by the end of the month. And does it really have to be a “resolution”? That’s a scary word; it sits in dark and sketchy bars with “responsibility”, “commitment” and “obligation”. Together they drink warm, musty liquids from heavy mugs and gesture with creaking bones and desperately dry skin. Let’s pick a word that frolics in a sunny meadow and has flowing golden hair. “Promise” is promising but has a tendency to be fickle and failure results in breaking. “Pledge” is also bright and wonderful smelling but after forced repetition becomes meaningless and quickly becomes just the words. “Goal” is a hardy exciting word but invokes too much competitiveness. No, I think the word I’m looking for is “Undertaking”! It sounds like a verb, but’s it’s actually a noun. Still, what a wonderful word, so full of action and excitement. Though the definition is “a task or project” the word certainly have a sense of movement and motion. It must be the “-ing”. Oh, but it also can mean “the business of preparing the dead”. Ah, here we are. “Enterprise- daring new project; business activities directed at profit; readiness to undertake new ventures.” So there, no more New Year’s Resolutions. Let’s all start making Daily Enterprises!
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