January 1, 2022

Earlier this month, a few thoughts came to me as I read through the New Year’s Resolutions folks were posting. We all have our valid reasons for holding tight to certain aspirations. What’s more, we rarely know the full story of what lies beneath the goals that we hear others set for themselves.

I wrote the following reflection as a way to dig into the richer soils that underlie so many of our common, January proclamations. For all of us, it is a lovely practice to ask ourselves some potent questions when setting goals for ourselves.

If you scratch beneath the surface of your resolutions, what do you find?
What core need are we tending to?
What behaviors can we include in our lives that meet these needs with tenderness, compassion, and acceptance
How can we move from external measures of success toward something that lives a bit closer to our “still center”?

I Hope You Lose Some Weight This Year

I hope you lose some weight this year.

I hope you lose the weight of other's expectations. I hope you lose the weight of your shame.

I hope you find a diet that works.

I hope that you find a diet that eliminates everything that is tied to "should" or "ought." I hope you find a diet that includes infinite servings of healthy boundaries and self-love every day. I hope you feel nourished and full on every level of your being.

I hope you start (and stick!) to an exercise routine.

I hope you exercise your creativity. I hope you exercise your joy. I hope that you exercise all of those pieces and parts of yourself that are so weird, you've keep them hidden until now. I hope you get swoll on your individuality and bounce your already perfect and beautiful boo-tay to the beat of your own drum.

I hope you make some big moves in your career.

I hope you do work that feeds the soul and brings you a sense of purpose and stability. I hope that you are in a vocation and have co-workers that lift up... that lift up each other and lift up the world. I hope you get a huge bonus this year of time for your personal passions and self-care.

I hope you find love.

I hope you fall in love with your community. I hope you fall in love with your friends and family. I hope you uncover your deep love for this life. I hope you fall in love with yourself.

I hope you fix up your house.

I hope you live in a way that honors this shared space, that revels in this freaking glorious, living, breathing home. I hope you feel into the heartbeat of our little planet, and that you grow to love her and know her more with every breath. I hope you take it upon yourself to do everything in your power to restore her, to fix the leaks, nix the pests, to repair the damage of our neglect.

I hope you finally get your s#$t together.

I hope you let yourself be afraid, but still keep going. I hope you stop looking away, and start looking with love and interest at all the super f'ed up parts of life. I hope you find some way to do the work. I hope you let yourself rest. I hope you chuck grind culture out the window. I hope you start living the totally unique, one-of-a-kind life that you were meant to live.

This year, I hope you are happy.

But, if you find you are in a space that is not happy, I hope that you feel deeply loved and supported.

I hope that you stand in your truth.

I hope that from the rubble of whatever has crumbled this past year, something stronger, something more sustainable, something even more beautiful emerges.

I hope, for all of us, that we learn to love bigger and better and harder than we ever have before.

I HOPE YOU LOSE SOME WEIGHT THIS YEAR.