Resolutions – Out with the Old?

Last year I tried a creative list of resolutions. Traditional resolutions are aspirational – be a better person, eat less – and are set ups for “fail once, give up” – so I avoided them. Instead, I made doable resolutions. Here’s how I put it:

And then I made 10 resolutions. I kept some:

It would be easy to resolve to read more, travel more, eat less and better, start a math book club, hike more, lose weight, blog more, make more “State of the Union” episodes, and visit more cool things in New York. But as well-meaning as each of those resolutions are, I don’t think making them is meaningful, not when we know in advance that good intentions might not play out. Resolve not to be late anymore? Well, I would like that, but I know this is very difficult for me. It’s not just about trying harder.

I kept 6 of the 10.

1. Have a good birthday! I needed one resolution that felt like a resolution. And three score is a lot. I should have a day or two to smile about it!
2. Do not download games to my phone. I deleted all of them, one at a time, last summer and fall. I miss them – but like withdrawal – not like nostalgia. My screen time dropped immediately. Stay the course. Solid resolution.
3. Visit all the NYC zoos. And the Aquarium.
4. Track my vitals. Won’t promise to lose weight or get more fit. But I resolve to pay attention.
5. Keep flowers in my apartment. I may grow some. I may buy some. I may buy plants that flower periodically. But this is easy, and flowers make me happy.
6. Log my books. I won’t resolve to read more – see above – but I am recording my reading, whether a whole book or part of a chapter, in my “Book Book” – a black and white cover bound composition book.

It was a great birthday – friends at a bar – and a cold weather walk with friends in Van Cortlandt Park. The no games on the phone gets easier over time – that really was a bad habit. I got to all the zoos – including Prospect Park just 2 weeks ago. (Bronx is the best!) Getting the IDNYC free membership helped. Tracking my vitals was easy – I just do it. And logging the books was easier than it should have been – how can I read so little? I’ll say more, below.

I partially kept 3 of the 10

1. Log my hikes. I won’t resolve to hike more (even though I mean to). I will resolve to record them though, in my “Hike Book” – a black and white cover bound composition book.
2. Say yes to more social invites. I was out last weekend – at the sort of thing I usually miss – and it felt good.
3. Reread my advice to myself. I think kids asked for advice for a yearbook quote. And this is what I came up with, here: “Speak the truth.   Work for Change.  It’s not about you.”

So I came closest on the hikes. I logged everything out of the city. But I confess to skipping some Van Cortlandt Park hikes, and walks in the NY Botanical Gardens and Central Park. Just not sure they should qualify when so much is on concrete paths. Except no excuse for skipping logging Van Cortlandt – I don’t think it happened often. Number 2, I definitely missed a few invites for no good reason – and accepted a few. I need to shift that balance. And “Speak the Truth; Work for Change” – well, yes, but no, it’s never good enough. Always keep working on this.

I failed on 1 of the 10

1. Ride as many of the NYC ferry lines as I can. Even Rockaway.

I did not ride a single ferry this year, except back and forth once to Staten Island.

And this year? I am not going to make a resolution of something where I’ve already succeeded (flowers, zoos, vitals) I am going to repeat a few that bear repeating. And a few additions.

A comment about reading. I will not resolve to read more. But I’m going to repeat the book logging resolution because I read SO LITTLE. Look at this: 1 Hitler’s Empire by Mark Mazower (serious, hard, took me a while). The Annotated Alice (2 Alice in Wonderland and 3 Through the Looking Glass) by Lewis Caroll (Charles Dodgson), edited by Martin Gardner. 4 Mutiny on the Bounty by William Bligh (edited for younger readers). 5 Gut: The Inside Story of our Body’s Most Underrated Organ by Giulia Enders (this was good – popularly written – I think most people could read, enjoy, and learn from it). 6 Red State Revolt by Eric Blanc (about the teacher strikes in AZ, OK, and WV – some good info, but some of the analysis felt “gee whiz” and other parts felt strangely interpreted). 7 A History of Tea: The Life and Times of the World’s Favorite Beverage by Laura C. Martin (uneven, different parts written with strangely different voices. The history was weird, especially of colonialism.) And 8 First Farmers: The Origins of Agricultural Society by Peter Bellwood (Tremendous. I did struggle at times, but well worth it. And as soon as I finished I went looking for an update – because he left us with open questions. And indeed, it has just been updated. I’m looking forward).

But that’s it! Not enough. Even though Mazower and Bellwood needed longer, 8 books in a year?

So, Resolutions for 2025:

1. Ride as many of the NYC ferry lines as I can. Back on the horse, so to speak.
2. Log my books. I will keep recording my reading, whether a whole book or part of a chapter, in my “Book Book” – and I hope that will motivate me to be more consistent. Let’s also patiently wait and see if any fiction appears.
3. Attempt long walks (notice, “attempt” – that’s fair). Broadway from Bowling Green to the City Line. Maybe City Hall to Coney Island. Could I try a shorewalkers’ walk along the shore of Manhattan? That sort of stuff. Bella walked from the GW to the Tappan Zee. See, I’m not even going to pretend I’m going to try that one.
4. Keep a record of when I eat take out. Seriously. It’s too easy to max out salt, fat, carbs, fried stuff, and sugar without even trying. I guess I need a book. A Take Out Book.
5. Spend more time outside of NYC. This year I had one one-week trip (MN, SD, ND) and weekends here and there (Cambridge, Lansing, Mohonk). Not nearly enough.
6. This year I am using my IDNYC to get three free memberships: NYC Ballet, Museum of Modern Art (with PS1), and Flushing Town Hall (with reciprocal privileges for the Queens Museum). So let’s get five for one: at least one NYC Ballet rehearsal, MOMA, PS1, one event at Flushing Town Hall, and one event at the Queens Museum.
7. In the spirit of what’s worked, and all my new membership, yet another book – performances, movies, museums: I’ll log this stuff in an Arts not on TV Book.
8. Five major NYC Botanical Gardens: NYBG (easy!), Queens Botanical Garden, Brooklyn Botanical Garden, Snug Harbor, and Wave Hill
9. Have a good birthday! A real resolution. And three score and one odd is my last prime for a while. I already got the shirt.

And that other stuff? Blog more? Lose weight? Be on time more? They’d all be good. I might try. I will try. But silly to make those resolutions.