Last year, an open invitation to boil one’s New Year’s resolutions to a single word ended up generating more comments than almost any other topic in the history of this little blog.
To recap, I chose “stretch.” In the literal sense, I failed. I simply don’t stretch enough and my hamstrings are tight as . . . well, I find myself failing to find a good Raymond Chandleresque simile here. Tight enough to make a bishop put his foot through a stained glass window? Tight as a tarantula on a slice of angel food cake? Doesn’t work. The bottom line is I need to do more yoga to complement a fairly intense program of cardio and strength-training.
Did I stretch figuratively? I think so. I wrote more than I ever have before, and the three works I produced — a novel (Life Sentences), a serial novella (The Girl in the Green Raincoat) and a novella for the short story collection (Scratch a Woman) were all attempts to do something new/different/more challenging. As always, others get to pass judgment on if I succeeded, but I was definitely in Robert Browning* territory.
So what one word can sum up my 2009 goals? I considered “moisturize” — and, really, if there’s one thing I need to do every day, it’s probably that — but it lacked a larger sense. “Loosen up”? That’s two words, but not bad advice. I have always been enamored of an old 70s phrase, which I happened on in The Serial, about gnats in the yogurt, small things that shouldn’t upset us. But just try reducing that sentiment to a single word.
Besides, although I could definitely go with UNWIND, I don’t think it encompasses enough of what I have to do. So I choose: VENTURE, in almost all of its meanings. (The last thing I’m going to do in 2009 is put any capital on the line.)
Your turn. One word, one resolution.
*ETA: I was trying to make a subtle allusion to “A man’s reach should exceed his grasp,” which would have been mildly impressive if I had gotten the poet right the first time around. But, hey, this is a blog about memory’s vagaries.
Hope. It’s become a cliche after this past election,
but a virtue which keeps us going and banishes despair.
Enjoy.
Hope seems far from a cliche, and very much in keeping with most of the other resolutions offered here.
By the way, Jack Pendarvis’s name was dropped like an anvil in a recent New York Times piece about the Richard Howorth (mayor of Oxford, MS, and also owner of Square Books.) He was one of the luminaries in attendance at a party the Howorths threw.
augment
Amongst many other alluring treats spread here and there this Christmas, I couldn’t resist my copy of Hardly Knew Her until it was entirely consumed….and NOW I know what all the fuss is about! The collection is a very nice LL primer, and I shall have to augment my non-fiction reading with more Tess (et al).
One criticism, though, that I will offer (in my capacity as one of the world’s many people named Brian) is that men named Brian (with various spellings) are all turds in the punchbowl, across several different stories!
Anyway, after spending a few days reading about cul de sacs and insurance and divorce and murder – the horrible story about the Santa with the flame thrower was an unpleasant return to nonfiction, at the end of Christmas. (one of the dust jack blurbs refers to LL’s exploration of the psyches of desperate souls [or some such] – and the truth of that certainly asserted itself, as I finished the book)
Endure. Because “survive” seems too strong and too cliched.
Brian,
I hadn’t picked up on my use (overuse) or your good name, but know that the “Bryon” is a salute to a young writer I like and admire, and his surname (White) was chosen from another young writer I like and admire. So it can be considered a form of tribute.
Endure is good. But I wonder what would happen if we chose to THRIVE, despite the odds against it? Brings to mind a beautiful phrase in a book I just read, let me see if I can find it . . . alas, I can’t! (I’ve been reading many things at the same time, per usual.)
Breathe. I think it encompasses a lot of other things than just actual breathing- but working on actual breathing is a good thing too.
Detach
(I liked “reach” but I feel a little disillusioned today.)
Escape. I keep creating boundries for myself. I need to break free from all those self-imposed limitations.
Save. With brief break taken for the thinger I just got you.
What’s the opposite of “waste”? That. In re: time, mostly.
Relight.
Write. (no more excuses now that my 15 month old son is sleeping more)
care
Took me all day to figure out mine was care, and now it will match Patricia’s
Manage.
Which really sucks as a resolution -I’d far prefer something far more hopeful and promising and encouraging – but it’s necessary.
Having thought it over, and hating this choice, I think i might switch simply to “try”.
Anti-procrastination.
Why?
I’ll tell you later.
Decide.
Finish.
Build
Mmmmmm, punch.
My word for next year: Now.
Choose.
Persevere. Perhaps that’s too broad, but it will certainly cover many other private resolutions. Nothing distracts me more from both my writing and my optimism than anxiety, and the new year’s certain to bring plenty of that.
Strength or Courage. Being able to cope with all the stuff that I know is coming and to be able to meet the goals that I’ve set for myself.
Roughage.
Do
“You could have stretched her hamstrings across the head of a banjo and played a recognizable ‘Foggy Mountain Breakdown.”
“Her hamstrings felt as tightly wound and knotted as the rubber band engine of a balsa wood airplane in the hands of a caffeinated seven year old.”
A digression from the hamstring thread (which I am enjoying immensely and encourage others to try): I recently indulged in a meme I found on Clair’s Facebook page, which uses an iPod on random and takes the song titles as the answers to various questions.
In general, mine weren’t that memorable, but everyone in my family found it amusing that the one seeking my life philosophy was “Tighten Up.”
Bounce
Bounce with the joy of being alive but also bounce back in a resilient sort of way when crap falls on top of me.
Mine would have to be “tolerance”, not because I don’t think I am already tolerant but knowing some of the things that I am going to have to deal with this year (work wise) I know that I am going to need that particular word in abundance.
Chill. Not as in goofing off, but as in calm, unruffled, focused. I’m feeling a lot of anxiety right now about a lot of things, and I need to just chill and get on with it.
Yes – we may as well enjoy the punch! Although, come to think of it, the ones with my spelling were (on the one hand) a bit of a heel in Hardly Knew Her (one supposes his fate was indeed a bit of a pun), while the other one (in the OTHER best story in the book!) got what he wanted, and then some…
while yours WAS an income-earning artist!
Ah well – such is life in the punchbowl
Soar
(in the spirit of my reach exceeding my grasp)
Lippman’s hamstrings felt like a size-too-small corset straining to hold back the tide of fat over the caboose of a zoftig opera singer. Tight. Very very tight.
***
Laura’s hamstrings, stretched to their limits, ached like a rotten molar in the head of a Bowery bum.
***
Her hamstrings yelped like a puppy with a stevedore’s size twelves stomping on its tail when she bent over to re-tie her shoelaces.
***
Oh, wait, that wasn’t the challenge? Oops! (With apologies to Chandler, Hammett and the whole hard-boiled community!)
Create.
I want to create a wonderful new home with my husband after we move to Tucson. I want to create a workout routine that works best for me. Both Ken and I want to create new friendships in our new town. As I have already started my new job, I want to create an excellent teen program at my new library. I also want to create blog posts more regularly, though I think a new job with a 2 hr commute each way more than excuses my lack of blogging since Dec. 1
. Many of my create statements will take effect after Feb. 1, when we move to Tucson, but I will start to put some into practice sooner than that. Thanks, Laura, for a different way to think about the resolution idea.
Tighten (up) would be my word for 2009.
“And we can dance just as good as we walk.” That is good as my goal is 10,000 daily steps this year.
The hamstrings will be tighter than an Anglican minister on Sunday night.
I exported this one-word resolution challenge to Nancy Nall’s site, and someone came up with one that first made me laugh, and then grew upon me all the more. Ready? -
Bake
Maintain
I’ve been thinking about this for a few days. I spent most of the last 15 months engaged in a Major Life Change, and I like the change, and want it to be permanent (and I know how difficult that can be).
And also, because I’m becoming more and more aware of how impermanent life is, and I want to keep what I have (family, home, friends, health). It’s a selfish resolution, but I can live with that.
Improve.
Appreciate.
Savor!
And Happy New Year, everyone !
Hey, people, some of you are now famous as you have been quoted in the New York Times! Cut, paste and enjoy (about half way down the article):
http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/31/parenting-resolutions/?hp
Happiest of New Years to you all. Thanks, Laura, for giving a place to hang out.
Decrease: my size, my spending, my junk, my anxiety, my stress, my anger, my wastefulness.
Marjorie beat me to it! Yes, Lisa Belkin, a gifted journalist (see “Show Me a Hero,” her account of a big political battle in Yonkers) was kind enough to give us a shout-out on her blog.
I also played the one-word challenge at dinner last night. One guest had so many ideas that someone finally said: “Maybe your word should be ‘also.’”
Happy New Year, folks!
There are some wonderful words posted which I will note for the year ahead.
I would add two words–”persevere” and “enjoy.”
Happy New Year!
Kathy D.
laugh
Believe.
Believe in myself, so I’ll believe the good others see in me.
Show more belief in my God.
Believe in my family…I’ll leave that as it is.
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