While New Year’s Day offers a clean, fresh slate for starting over, it’s not the only opportunity at your disposal. In fact, there’s nothing to stop you from beginning again as frequently as you’d like. I’d recommend starting fresh at least once or twice a day. Otherwise, you might be warehousing your awesome for a special occasion instead of celebrating it every day.
I’ve rebooted my own life hundreds of thousands of times. Occasionally, it’s a big change, like moving to a new city or marrying a dashing musician, becoming a certified tour guide to the universe (read: mom) or starting a business from scratch. Other times, it’s tiny little adjustments to nudge myself in the directions I most want to go: writing and then re-writing a novel, for instance, or practicing my bean-cooking skills until everyone in the house begs for anything else.
The key is recognizing that you are a dynamic, constantly changing creature living in a dynamic, constantly changing universe. If you save up your starting over for one day a year, you’re depriving yourself of the full experience of becoming your most YOU you. This year, why not make a resolution to start a new year every day?
I read a post from someone on IG the other day about the unspoken pressure to do things the way you’ve always done, to hang out with the same old people, to wear the same clothing you always have, and suddenly “be yourself” is not at all what people want, but rather they are comfortable with you being what THEY’VE always known you as. But this person said (and this really resonated with me), “The very essence of being yourself requires constant change, development and evolvement. Of everything. Your character, your interests, your circle, your goals, your lifestyle. It doesn’t have to match your normal routine for fear that people who [think] they know you will call you out for doing something you don’t normally do….you are whatever you want. You may rebrand yourself over and over again, at any time, at any point. And I think there’s a lot of freedom in that. As I’ve been through it myself. I wanted to tell you.” – JE. Anyway, I wasn’t sure if you had read this post on my page from a month ago, so I wanted to share it with you here ❤️
Love it! Reminds me of Whitman’s stanza from Song of Myself:
Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)
I love your thoughts- how do we follow you? Would love to receive your work in my inbox!
PS I’m not on Instagram
Hi, Shann! Thanks so much! There’s a subscription button on the Home page as well as at the bottom of the Blog (Innocent Postcards) page. I would LOVE to see you on Instagram in the future. I suspect you’d get a fast following with your beautiful artwork! If I were strictly a visual artist, it would be my primary social media (plus, it’s got a friendly, positive vibe compared to other social sites, in my limited experience).
And thanks for the head’s up on the Subscription confusion! I’ve added a form to individual blog posts now, which should make it more intuitive for first-time visitors.