New Year's Evolution(s)
There's something at once strange and special in the air at New Year. Strange because, really, in the continuum that is time, the moments at the start of a New Year aren't discernible from the moments at the end of the last year; time is really just flowing, isn't it? Special because there's something magical about the bright hope and focused intention of so many people eagerly striving for the days ahead to be better than those behind. And isn't that hope what fundamentally drives us humans forward? Even in difficult times, even when it seems hope is lost, we're wired, deep within, to believe it can be better. To believe we can be better.
I've been thinking a lot about the woman I want to be in 2017. What I want to shed and what I want to invest in. How I want to spend my time and my energy. What I want to think and how I want to feel. What I want to wear. I'm not making resolutions, but I'm focusing on evolutions — on the small shifts that can create lasting change. It's not easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is. And when things get rough, which they inevitably do, it's comforting to know we're not alone. Others have been here before, and left guideposts along the trail. Here are a few I love.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Mesopotamia
“I believe that we, that this planet, hasn't seen its Golden Age. Everybody says its finished ... art's finished, rock and roll is dead, God is dead. Fuck that! This is my chance in the world. I didn't live back there in Mesopotamia, I wasn't there in the Garden of Eden, I wasn't there with Emperor Han, I'm right here right now and I want now to be the Golden Age ...if only each generation would realize that the time for greatness is right now when they're alive ... the time to flower is now.”
- Patti Smith
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Milton Glaser, Purgatorio
“If you perceive the universe as being a universe of abundance, then it will be. If you think of the universe as one of scarcity, then it will be...I always thought that there was enough of everything to go around - that there are enough ideas in the universe and enough nourishment.”
- Milton Glaser
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Joseph Beuys, Flower Nymph, 1956
"Let someone dangerous in for tea. Make small signs that say "yes" and spread them all over your house. Become a friend of freedom and uncertainty...Take a lot of naps...Dream wild, imaginative dreams. Draw on walls. Read every day. Imagine you are enchanted. Giggle with children. Listen to old people...Be free. Praise yourself. Let go of fear. Play with everything. Preserve the child in you."
- Joseph Beuys
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Charles Bukowski, Self-Portrait
"Style means no shield at all. Style means no front at all. Style means ultimate naturalness."
- Charles Bukowski
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Happy New Year...wishing it all comes true for you.
