I learned a long time ago that making a New Year's resolution is the best way not to achieve anything you wanted. The only resolution I've ever finished is getting into the habit of asking someone how they were doing after they asked about me, and that only worked because I'm excessively Minnesotan. But there is something I really want to accomplish in 2014, so I'm breaking my resolution against resolutions.
I've always wanted to be the kind of person who journals every day. The problem is I don't always have something to say and journaling quickly begins to feel like a chore. Then there are days when I do have an interesting observation about my life to write down but I have nowhere to put this mostly unformed thought. So in 2014, I have resolved to carry a journal around with me at all times.
This will not be the "Dear diary, my day was..." kind of journaling. It's an idea I got partly from the book Spilling Ink by Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter, which recommends making your journal entries as creative as the rest of your writing. I won't write in it everyday, just when the mood strikes me. Yesterday, I sat down at the Walker Art Center after exploring the galleries and wrote a two page character study. It turned out to be my favorite piece of writing in months.
Today I wrote another bit inspired by the Walker. They currently have multiple installations by Lawrence Weiner, a contemporary artist who believes in the power of words in art. He created the Walker's slogan, "Bits & Pieces Put Together to Present a Semblance of a Whole." While I was looking at his art, I thought of my own art-worthy slogan. Not very original, but I wrote in my journal, "Everything must go."
This one little sentence got the ideas rolling. It somehow fit perfectly in the novel I'm working on and managed to move my plot along. My New Year's resolution is already paying of. It knocked me out of my funk. Perhaps I'll stick with it.
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