January 18: For several years I wrote New Years Objectives. I was reluctant to call them resolutions because that seemed to imply that you could resolve to do something but then never actually follow through on doing it. My city planning background told me that to be meaningful, these sorts of things had to be explicit, they had to be measurable, and they had to be on a timetable. So for example, one year I set the objective of running a 10 km race in under an hour before my birthday. I accomplished that; box checked. Personal satisfaction ensues.
In setting these objectives, I identified different areas where I felt the need for improvement or growth. These have changed over the years but have included physical well-being; personal creativity; spiritual and emotional growth; and, financial security. Some of these objectives are really a continuation of what has been in place for the previous year: continue running and try to develop a stretching and strength-building routine. The running part is easy; the stretching and strength part, not so much.
I like to think of myself as a creative person and “being more creative” has been an objective for many years. Obviously, you can’t measure creativity. Simply churning out endless numbers of useless paintings to meet a deadline is not very creative. While I attend classes (now virtually) during the school year, I gradually lapse into not painting at all when the classes are not active. My objective in the past has been to develop a routine that provides an opportunity to do something creative as often as possible. Even an hour a day sketching, painting or writing would be a huge improvement and probably a benefit to my mental well-being.
And there’s the problem: with the COVID lockdown in place, time has become infinite. Every day is the same as the last. There’s no rush to do anything because there is always another day. I find this immensely discouraging. I’m not motivated to do anything significant because it can always be done tomorrow. I’m wasting precious time by not making better use of this period of enforced introspection and unlimited opportunity.
So for now I have not really written any objectives for 2021 (although simply avoiding the virus might be worthwhile). Instead, I’m starting small: for the next while I’m going to try to be more purposeful and present in my life. Take more opportunities as they come and focus on actually doing some new things to distract from the day-to-day sameness we all face. A step in the right direction. And who knows ? In time I might actually find the time to write some objectives for the rest of the year. You know: that time when we can go outside again.