Notes: I have never been a fan of New Year's resolutions. Cynically, I've always taken them as statements of things we won't accomplish in the coming year, or unnecessary setups to feel disappointed in ourselves later on. Rebecca likes to use the word "intentions" instead. I like that a great deal. Intentions are flexible enough to absorb and adapt to the circumstances we can't predict throughout the coming year.
On New Year's Day, Rebecca and I joined a group of our more intrepid and exuberant friends in a polar plunge into Casco Bay, here in Maine. It was exhilarating and joyful. It felt like the perfect way to set the tone for our first full year as transplants to this state. I want to be brave and greet new experiences and challenges with joy and openness, just like I did that day. My intention for the year is to remember the way it felt to run into the ocean on the first day of January, to know my partner and my friends were in it with me, and to trust that though the plunge was daunting, the experience would elevate and enrich my life.
There will be far greater challenges ahead, but I have set a good tone to meet them well.
lyrics
Wrote another New Year's song
I put some feeling in this one
I followed friends into the ocean
Released the old year to the sun
Shouldn't everyone
Find their ocean
And start the new year that way?
An intention for myself
'Cause resolutions blow away
I'll remember how I felt
In the ocean new year's day
Shouldn't everyone
Find their ocean
And start the new year that way?