Resolutions and Goals

I don't know about you, but I love resolutions. The new year is so exciting to me as I think about what goals I want to make. It's interesting because I have read articles and heard others say resolutions aren't effective or don't help people make lasting change. I do agree that the idea of a new year being the only time to make goals or work towards change isn't effective for lasting progress. However, I feel that writing goals down is so much better than merely wishing for things to be better the next year. The only way they really will be is if we make those goals.

I have found for me the goals that make the most impact in my life are ones that can make small changes over the course of each year. They are goals that focus more on who I want to become than on reaching a destination over the course of one year. For example I want to be more consistent with making art so my goal is to catalog the paintings I make in one year. Other goals have been to focus on becoming more present with my goal being to put my phone away more. Knowing that this was one of my goals I searched for ways to put it into practice. At the end of the old year I loved looking back and seeing progress. Like my last blog post I am learning to focus more on the progress over the perfection. I was far from perfect in any of my goals, but I saw the progress I had made.

These eggs I painted years ago and they sat in my studio not really impressing me. I knew it was because of the continued progress I'd made and what I had learned in the years since I'd last painted them. I saw stark edges and values that didn't blend very well. I loved the nest around it, but it was the eggs that I knew could be better than they were. I painted them again and now I can love the whole piece for what it has become. The eggs feel like new life and a new year working forward and completing goals.