New Year? So what?

A few years ago, the new year meant
+Wil Wheaton  was on a boat.

Guess what? It's almost the new year!

Guess what that means?

Absolutely nothing.

Before you huff off to another blog with a happier year end message, let me clarify my position on the matter.

The new year is an arbitrary date. Nothing in particular separates it from any other day, except for bringing the trouble of writing the wrong year on our checks for weeks on end.

However, this doesn't make it worthless.

The human condition revolves so much around symbolism that the concept of a totally symbolic existence has been promoted by various psychologists I am too lazy to look up and cite. Essentially, your interaction with the world is based upon symbols you have assigned to every single thing you see, hear, touch, et cetera.

The new year can represent something to us, a chance for a fresh start, for new opportunities.

I am a diehard pessimist. I don't mean to be. It takes no real effort on my part to point out everything that is wrong and speculate on how it will get worse. My wife has helped me realize the root of this (beyond the scope of this particular post) but seeing the cause doesn't make it go away. My condition is so severe that half the time I hear anything positive, I scoff and deny it.

It's stupid. I know.

Therefore, the concept of using the new year to springboard personal growth chafes. Every time I hear about a new year's resolution, I want to strangle the person and tell them they're doomed to fail.

So!

I guess that means it's time to make a quasi-resolution. (No guarantees this won't lead to auto-asphyxiation.)

My dear wife has argued that we can just use January 1 as a day to reinvigorate the changes we wish to make. The most important thing in my life (beyond the essentials, such as family, food, and general continued respiration) is writing. Therefore, we are starting a campaign to enforce good habits, because otherwise I won't accomplish a damn thing.

I am in the process of developing a list of habits I need to build up.

I urge you, dear reader, to not use January 1, 2013, to make fluffy resolutions, but rather to re-evaluate your goals and determine how you will reach them. Be realistic, but don't underestimate your abilities, either.

Join me in my quest to ever-so-slightly better yourself, starting today.

Sidenote: the venerable +Chuck Wendig recently posted a list of 25 resolutions for writers. Well worth a look.