I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions. That concept sounds so burdensome. Instead, I have a personal tradition of picking one or more words to aspire to live by for the coming year. I revisit these words from time to time and check in on how I’m doing. (Writing them on the bathroom mirror is a very effective strategy.)
My words for 2020 were acceptance and focus. I almost wore out the word acceptance with the pandemic and political matters and it’s unlikely I can ever truly accept the damage of the forest fires had here in Oregon this year. Climate change is unacceptable and is something I will always fight against. Thus it has been a mixed bag with that word. FOCUS has been an ongoing challenge for me but I am happy to report that I am BETTER! Being a creative soul I am forever distracted by my thoughts and every shiny thing that comes along in my day. Now though, I am more aware of my distractions and am honing a system to keep me on track.
This December I mulled over what my new words would be. I wait to see what will bubble up to my subconscious and pick the ones I resonate with the most. So drumroll.. my new words are:
Commitment– I allowed myself this year to go “fallow” and dabble in a lot of creative pursuits. Now I am ready to synthesize what I’ve learned into specific avenues.
Generosity– Give more of my time, talent, and money to others
Focus – This word remains on the list as I need more work with it.
Let the year unfold! What are your words for 2020?
and my poem for you this New Year…
A Toast for 2021
It’s the season of new
the Earth has spun through the heavens
and arrived at the place we call the beginning
a bookmark we humans have put in the order of things
the New Year, the first day of the first month of the 21st year of the 21st century
All is new, yet all the same
a cycle in a continuum of millennia
yet a comfort that we have a fresh start in our minds
Shall we proceed then with our new slippers
virgin calendars full of exotic pictures
day planners devoid of marks
and forge on with gusto?
for we have been given another turn
a blank canvas to paint another 12 months upon
Let us mix up our palettes with new intentions
hope, faith and the unseen circumstances that will surely find us
stroke, splash, and drip with abandon
make your marks with love, touching others with color
bringing forth new memories
painting this Earth a brighter place
Check out my other blog onesweetearth.art.blog on sustainable living.
out of my comfort zone by making a new body of work, participating in the Art Harvest Studio Tour, completing a printmaking residency, traveling 
This is a reblog of a poem I wrote for New Year’s Eve last year when my blog was brand new and had few readers. I read it at a gathering of friends. We were all still reeling from the presidential election fallout. As the poem as it was read caused a hush in the room. Later, several friends told me how much it meant to them. Feel free to share this at your gathering on this New Year’s Eve as we hope for change in 2018. What better way to start the New Year than with poetry?
By Alanna Pass 