Resolutions

New Year's resolution noun: a promise to do something differently in the new year.

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Every year, the clock counts down. Our voices raise to the sky. Ten..nine..eight all the way to one. A kiss to Auld Lang Syne. Then, a New Year is born, and we all have the chance to start again. To make this year the year, we jump our hurdles, crawl out of the holes we've dug ourselves into, and keep climbing our ladders of success.

Like gifts given on Christmas morning, New Year's resolutions are presents we open all year long. Promises to do better. Goals we want to achieve. Ideas of who we want to be planted on New Year's Eve as seeds in the soil of our minds in the hopes of growing those seeds in our hearts until they bloom in our souls.

With each day that turns into a week, each week that becomes a month, the goals, the promises we've wrapped so carefully in resolutions will stretch to reach the sun of our effort or will wilt in the darkness of our abandonment.

Every year is different. Some resolutions get carried over from one calendar turn to the next before they finally get crossed off. Smoking took ten years to get done. Some only take one. Sorry energy drinks dropping you was easier than I thought. Some never go away...I'm still waiting for my twenty-year-old body to return. But even out of reach, the ones we keep saying one day to, give us the inspiration to stay motivated.

This year, my list includes the staples. Make it to the gym more often, eat healthier, play more guitar, and be the best me. Whew, now that we got the carryovers out of the way, we can get to the ones that are just for 2025, which also may get carried over into 2026. I don't know we'll see how it goes.

Without further adieu. Here are my slay this thing we call life, Resolutions!

First, try and take over the world. No, wait, that's Pinky and the Brain, not me. Haha, lol. Okay, seriously. I want to take over the world. What! Secrets people. There are just things we keep to ourselves. Filters on. World domination aspirations hidden. Let's continue.

Second, there's one rule in Fight Club. Wait, that's not it either. Where is my brain today? Resolutions. Can I get a smidge of focus? Writing is my passion. Finally, the topic I was looking for. Now let's travel down that road for a little while.

Two decades ago I wrote an epic achievement the literary world still hasn't stopped talking about. Wow. The truth is not a friend of mine. Kinda fibbed a bit with that sentence. The honest version goes like this. I sent my awesome book to agents who ignored it or said things like. Love the idea for the story. We just didn't like the Narrative. Which basically, means you have a really great plot you're writing just sucks.

Years later, and hopefully a little better at the craft, I'd have to agree with their assessment. My writing was kinda what it was. The efforts of an amateur who hadn't taken the time to learn how to write.

Enter VOCAL...And finally, following the advice, every writer should live by. No, not the delete key is your best friend. Though, that is an important one. But, the pista resistance for writing hacks. Read, read, read. If you want to be a better writer read good writers and absorb the way they paint scenes. The way they string sentences along. It works. I promise.

You may have noticed I started the last paragraph with Enter VOCAL and never explained. So, before I tell you my resolutions, I'd like to give you the reason I wrote those two words. I thought when I joined VOCAL, it was just about the challenges, and it is. But for me, it's also, more importantly, an educational journey. By writing, by getting feedback, by reading other's work, by and not a part of VOCAL, but also a significant part of my journey listening to an unhealthy amount of Audible. I have learned how to write. It was a stark awakening to realize how much I didn't know about how to craft a story before I got on here. And now that I've been on here a while I realize I still have so much more to learn.

But, I'm getting there! Yeah, who's on a writing journey of enlightenment? This guy. Yes, I just did the this guy thing, and without the visual of two thumbs pointed back at myself. Though, I was doing the thumbs in front of the monitor. Yes, I'm that cheesy. Now, because of everything I've just confessed about learning on VOCAL, I began rewriting my literary achievement that everybody still talks about, really no one does, last year. And even though this is under the second heading, my first resolution is to finish that rewrite.

Third, I'm going to keep working on my other projects and stay dedicated to writing. Which should be fairly easy since... I F*+#ing love writing. I know this is really the second one, and the next is the third. But, I digress

Fourth, write with meaning. Have something to say in every line of prose, whether it's silly or profound. Someone once told me poetry had to be more than pretty words strung together. It has to mean something. Admittedly, when I first heard that, my stubborn, sarcastic brain said, isn't that the point of poetry, pretty words? And everything is about something, duh. Seinfeld wasn't a show about nothing. It was about the friendship between four people living in New York City. Now, I'm a stand-up guy, so I'll admit it took me longer than it should have to understand what they were trying to tell me.

Fifth, Yes I know it's fourth. Anyway, calm down, people. We're getting off-topic. Let's put a pin in that and circle back later. Okay, everyone, ready. Alright. Here we go.

Fifth, search for my unique voice. Oh, that's a big one, isn't it? Finding my narrative voice is a journey I've been on, am still on, and don't know if I'll ever make it to the end of. I'd venture to say most of us are on similar journeys. And this year, I'd like to get further down my path than my eyes can see right now. Because, hopefully, and this is a big hope, there's a pretty good writer waiting for me when I get there.

Lastly and thank god, not another resolution. Hey, I feel your fatigue. Even sitting here writing this, I'm like, is this guy ever going to wrap it up? And the answer is....YES! Congratulations, you've reached the end of my New Year's dribble. What prize have you won, you ask. Only my undying gratitude. Okay, not worth that much, but you'll also receive this great gift.

What is it????

It's a brand new wish of luck!!!!!

May all your 2025 resolutions come true!

Shout out to my peeps!