Article 1 - "THE RESOLUTION OF PRACTICE" by Jessica Kuzmier January 2008 edition of First Church of The Streets

     A new beginning always has a great feeling. A fresh start has the sensation of clean sheets, blank sheets and blank slates. Nothing to mar the finish of what seems to be absolutely perfect. A new beginning is ripe with promises.

     These are the kinds of cliches that seem to accompany the concept of a new year. Goals and resolutions are stated, even if not really followed through in the long run. In this kind of practice, it's the idea that counts. By the time February comes, the fresh snow gets that dirty look to it and it doesn't seem like such a blank slate after all. The year is broken in and becomes just like any year before it.

     But that doesn't always have to be a bad thing. Even though the year always becomes stained in one way or another doesn't mean that the whole thing needs to be discarded. It's just one of those things. Some days are better than others, and a new year isn't going to change any of that. It's a good thing to understand that as one strives to make an attempt at any kind of attempt at changing a habit or life itself.

     That might be the easiest way of approaching the whole thing, to see it as a ways and means of learning a new skill. For some reason, in Western culture, there's a blank space in the art of learning well. Falling off the bike numerous times before actually mastering it is something only kids are supposed to be doing. In other words, learning by trial and error is something so yesterday, so been there and done that. We have Internet, I-pods, and speed now, and besides, adults should be able to master things quickly because there is so much practical application that needs to be done. One has to get organized or risk losing her job. One has to lose weight or else risk heart disease. There is no time for trial and error. And so, instead of having a bad day or a bad week, one makes too many mistakes and the project is considered a failure: another year of resolutions broken.

     It's enough to ask, if this whole thing is nothing but futility, why do people keep on doing it? A new year is like writing an arbitrary line in the sand, thinking that this has something to do with real motivation to changing life. It is probably the blank slate theory, that somehow there is a change of seasons and that it means something new. Many cultures such as the Mayans see time as changing of focus, and of seasons; practices such as their Long Count with their various cycles are a means by which to focus on new theories with new epochs ensuing. The concept of a new year is just another form of that kind of long-term thinking.

     If that is so, then if one begins a new endeavor because of the new year, this long term thinking needs to be employed for any far reaching task to prevail. No one goes to college thinking that they will get a four year degree by next week, and any goal that needs a whole new year to get the motivation going will be accomplished in a day, either. The choice of practicing is what is most important for any permanent change to take place.

     This art of practice is the most important component. Practice can mean many things. It can be seeing what way works best for an individual, such as in learning ways of organization that really work in a busy life with not a lot of time to sort the spices in alphabetical order. Or it could be an adjustment of a goal. Maybe the five foot eight woman who wants to go from weighing 175 pounds to 130 for bikini season could settle for 150 by the end of the year. It could mean, not yet, as in the person who wants to focus on splitting up with a romantic partner or mate and then discovers with himself out that he is not ready for a total break yet. None of these adjustments mean that anyone has really failed.

     Maybe another component that can be employed in some long undertaking it the spirit of adventure, of play, or of fun. If the goal entails what is perceived to be drudgery, such as weighing food or dealing with sorting out bills from seventeen years ago, having a dead set attitude of dire seriousness only makes the situation worse. Sure, losing weight is good for heart health and organization a good skill to have on the job. But introducing elements of panic won't really do any good in the long run, because if it worked so well, it's probable that the person wouldn't need to make a resolution to change it to begin with. In this idealistic scenario, fear of disease would keep everyone except those rare exceptions at a healthy weight, and fear of unemployment would keep everyone organized. Obviously, reality reflects this as far from being true.

     In the end, maybe a good resolution or goal would simply to enjoy oneself, no matter what it is that a person wants to get done with a new year. Perhaps the best way to approach any of these things is to see the whole thing as a journey, a means of traveling closer to oneself. After all, every day or every moment is also an empty slate to create a new beginning, so why not try to see a temporary backslide like a flat tire on a journey and just resume the course? Let time be a friend to help someone to really find out what he or she wants while traveling. Maybe, by allowing the journey to unfold, a person finds out that what he or she started out looking for is really something else. As each moment unfolds, the awareness can grow as long as the journey still takes place. And if one really gets fed up and quits? There's always next year's traveling season.