One of the things about finding my inner panda, is knowing that my inner panda does not really hold with this whole New Year Resolution thingie.
I mean…am I actually going to do the things I thought I should do for the last 4 decades and never quite managed to do anything but make myself feel bad for not doing?
Yeah…I thought not.
But what I have done for a bunch of years, up to around 2020, was make a year plan, and honestly, that helped a lot. My friend Anne Davenport, a fiber artist who passed away last year, and I would make our plans, mostly about our creative work for the year. We would then get together, and read our plans to each other. This is only one of the things I miss now that she’s gone.
The idea of putting it in writing was supposed to make us more accountable to each other, but really to ourselves. We didn’t really do check ins or accountability reviews. It wasn’t anything that formal, beyond just writing down what we wanted our work to look like in the coming year. The funny thing was, even though I mostly didn’t look at them during the year, I ended up doing most of the things I wrote down.
Pinky, on the other hand, usually needs a bit more incentive to improve
Even before we knew we were in the middle of a global health catastrophe, I had dropped the accountability ball. (I was never very good at ball sports) We missed doing it in 2020, and then never got back to it, as much as we meant to.
But this year, I am back on the accountability bandwagon. At least for some things! I am probably never going to eat 7 servings of vegetables every day. My inner panda wishes it could be a lot more like Pinky.
Which leads me to ponder: as writers, do we create characters who represent who we are, or who we wish we were? Is my inner panda more Bubba or more Pinky? Or maybe it is more Bob T Panda…
I’m almost done with my year plan. One of the things I really (no, really!) want to do, is spend less time farting around on the internet and more time actually getting something done. Ha ha! I’ll let you know how that goes. That includes getting a post written here, and getting a couple new ‘toons done each week for The Panda Chronicles too.
Here’s to the New Year! May we live long and prosper, and may Congress not devolve into the bloody mess that it already appears to be doing!
Panda on!
I love the new year resolutions! I remember why Bubba got the resolution to chew his food more--he had to have emergency surgery for a tummy blockage(in real Panda time and real pandas--Bubba is aka Bei Bei. )I found a picture of Bei Bei where he had his tummy shaved and his surgery stitches were showing!)He is the sweetest bear--very laid back and funny! He was always falling out of trees--deliberately!
Pinky’s(aka Bao Bao)resolutions have grown into volumes over the years. Her mother tries so hard with her!
Such a great recap of why we do resolutions. I will try to be a kinder person this year.
I think the Republicans ought to make a resolution to scuttle their party and get off the sinking ship! What a fiasco these last two days have been. Talk about concessions being made to get power. Not a pretty sight.
And as a citizen of this country, I have had enough of these
Shenanigans for power grabbing. Lots of pots calling kettles.
Nite!