arbitrary days

Anniversaries. Birthdays. New Year’s with its resolutions. All of these are just days – just the same day on a fixed 365 (and a quarter) day calendar. They are convenient for marking the passage of time. Technically new year’s could have been any day in the 365 (and a quarter) day calendar. Times Square would be a lot more pleasant if new year’s was in April. Some aspect of our primitive past places it in the dead of winter, in the month of Janus – a time to reflect and to look forward. A time for new beginnings, changes and resolutions, but why? You can quit smoking on August 8th or start an exercise program on November 29th. Why do we need a specific date for new beginnings? Part of it is convenience, I think, and part is commercialism. New calendars, day runners and journals mean clean slates for everyone, unblemished by last years failures, missed appointments and disappointments. The siren song of absolution sung by page-a-day harpies with lyrics like – ‘THIS is the year you get organized, thin, healthy and wealthy!’ (Yes, I know I am mixing my mythology.) Every December 31st we go to bed disillusioned with ourselves and wake up 1 January blind to the fact that we are the same as we were. People fail in their new year’s resolutions because they dream up all of these changes to make their lives better, thinking a glass of champagne and a night’s rest is going to make everything come true just because there is a new wall calendar to write it all down on. I see nothing wrong with resolutions, goals and dreams, but let’s get some perspective. Rather than making all of the changes immediately, plan the dates during the year by which something is to be accomplished – this way you’re not quitting smoking, eating right, drinking more water, taking vitamins, biking to work, not losing your temper at work, learning to fandango, organizing your junk drawer, praying the rosary every night and calling your father more all at once in the first week of the new year. No wonder most people fail. Instead plan ahead – learn to fandango in June, and when you do, break out the champagne and shout , “Happy New Year!”

My goals for the new year are pretty simple. Some are the same every year, not because I can’t accomplish them, but because I do and they make me feel good. 1) Read a book a week, alternating fiction with nonfiction. 2) Finish my Masters (got a good start on this one last year). 3) Learn to ballroom dance better by May. 4) Remember to bring my coffee cup in from the car. 5) Write the Great American Novel (an hour a day). 6) Visit Vietnam, Thailand, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia this summer – I am on this side of the world anyway, so why not? 7) Run in every organized race on offer here. 8) Resume Karate by September.

So – it has been one year since merry melancholy made her debut. Any big revelations, thoughts or resolutions? Not really, it was just another good day on the 365 (and a quarter) day calendar. 🙂