Resolutions

Why do resolutions? Many are not kept, and many are repeats. I will take a stab at answering this question that I have been asking myself for years. I know it sounds like a cliché but I know I am not perfect, I know that I can't be perfect, but I can be better than I was last year. Better in what respect? Better with respect to the things I think are important. Family, health, and mental state come to mind. Benjamin Franklin carried a little notebook with his checklist of areas for improvement. I don't go that far but I can set some goals for the coming year. I will continue my running and keep my weight in check. I will study to do well in my graduate classes. I will attempt to be a strong tutor to my students who deserve the best. One new area I want to pursue has to do with creativity. I noticed my grandchildren are very creative, and frankly, I wonder where I missed the boat. I will attempt to cultivate some creativity in my life, but right now I am not sure just where. Maybe, I will cultivate my writing or language skills. I did write a paper that I will try to figure out how to publish on line. I have been practicing my Spanish during my one hour drive to and from school a couple times a week. Anyway, I will figure something out. But back to why I and many others like me do this each year. I'm not sure really, but perhaps only to confirm the notion that I have not arrived.

Why Don’t I Write More

Why Don't I Write More

 

Writing is a noble art. I can write, even though it may not be polished, but I don't do much of it. Why? Here are some plausible explanations. I have nothing to say? Nobody cares about what I write? After all are doesn't writing mean there is reading? Is it because it is too difficult? I don't have time? I am not really sure.

Let's examine each of these excuses for a second. I have nothing to say. I have many opinions, biases, conclusions, and beliefs that roll around often unexamined and accepted as truths, but go unspoken or described on paper. The act of placing them in print requires some amount of examination, work that evidentially I find tedious and unnecessary. It seems to me that it is a good thing to attempt to put a rational dialogue around an idea that will lend firmness to its existence. Perhaps writing a paragraph or two on a subject I find interesting and where I have some element of understanding is a beneficial exercise regardless of its worthiness of it being said.

OK what about the others? "Nobody cares what I write". Do artists consider this question when they paint? I am not sure but I doubt it. They probably have a vision and drag out the brushes. Is it too difficult? It is easy to do a mediocre piece, but I find it difficult to do good job. It is a hard thing to write, read, rewrite, several times until the words and ideas flow smoothly across the page. Of all this reason I don't write more this one is probably in first place. I don't have time surely in the last place. Not that I have an abundance of time, but that I have time that I waste on other things of which I could direct towards working on a sentence, paragraph, or page. So having no time does not pass the test of reasonableness and, therefore, is not a real excuse.

The conclusion I reach is that none of the excuses or "reasons" are valid. I need to do more writing to get better and more self confident at it. With that in mind I pledge to write every day in some form or fashion. If anybody besides me cares.