Maybe instead of traditional New Year’s resolutions, we can collectively begin to think about the parts of ourselves we would like to reclaim, the parts we forgot about, the parts our predecessors narrated to us incorrectly, the parts society has taught us to hate, the parts we fear.
Instead of resolutions that actually degrade our bodies, turning us towards a weight obsessed, body hating, and objectifying society, we instead can start to embrace the idea of rest and transformation residing in our bodies. We can concentrate on new ways to ground ourselves, to move out of our cognitions and into our bodies' power to heal.
Instead of resolutions about doing more and being more productive, we can begin to embrace the idea of moving away from grind culture. We can spend some time learning the destructive history of capitalism and choose not to repeat the abusive lessons towards ourselves or others.
Instead of resolutions about striving for happiness, we instead can concentrate on the process of embracing all of our emotions, working to understand that pain and despair are part of the human experience and need to be felt and released instead of feared.
Instead of resolutions about becoming financially rich, we can begin to see that our true wealth is in understanding our own worth, a worth that is based on no criteria, a worth that is intrinsic to being alive and is ever-present since the moment of birth.
Maybe this year, instead of projecting hatred and fear onto others, we can look more deeply into our own self hatred, where it has come from and why it was taught to us. Maybe we can work on strengthening our own voices so that we can speak up against these toxic messages about ourselves and others. Maybe we can be more intentional about who we choose to spend our time with in order to not enable our oppressors and surround ourselves with old messaging.
Maybe…
Resources to help this year:
Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey
The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love by Sonya Renee Taylor
The Tao of Fully Feeling: Harvesting Forgiveness out of Blame by Pete Walker
Trauma and Recovery by Judith Herman, M.D.