New Years Resolutions Are Just an Attitude

There was a really great editorial in the New York Times the other day comparing the new year to the edges in nature.  For those who don't spend most of your time outside, the edges are where everything happens in nature: where the woods meet the prairie, where the lake meets dry land.  These are dynamic places, places full of biodiversity and life and energy.  The author thought of the new year as a sort of human-created edge, the place where desire and expectation intersects with actuality.  The new year is, presumably, a dynamic time much like the thicket separating a cultivated field and woods.

All of this thought about the new year reminds me of where I was last year.  At this time last year, I was broken, burned out, exhausted, stressed out, and too unwilling to admit it.  Our first year of farming had done me in, and the winter did not allow for much rest or down time with it's unrealistically long list of mandatory projects, long (and late) seedling schedule, and constant money woes.  I had more scream-and-fall-on-the-ground-crying moments last winter and spring than I can remember having in the rest of my adult life.  And, of course, it took me until very recently to really admit how broken I felt.

Fast forward to this year, and the edge does feel dynamic.  After taking most of December off and actually resting, I feel somewhat relaxed and rejuvenated going into 2014.  Last year, I was pulled into all the changes of my life kicking and screaming.  I was scared and felt out of control.  This year, I am genuinely excited about the changes I see before me.  I am excited and ready to get to work.  I am excited and ready for all the transitions happening in my personal life.  I am excited about the challenges and opportunities that this year will bring.  I can hardly even imagine what December 2014 will look like, but I hope I can approach it with a much more positive attitude than I approached January 2013.