Vivid imaginings

Welp, new year brings the inevitable Resolutions. When I was burning El Año Viejo on Sunday I realized that most of the things I wanted to grind into dust were within myself—it’s a long list, but roughly things that make me get in my own way.

Dodging things that need doing—and are not BFDs, so what’s with my resistance?

Being fearful all the time.

Not following through on exercises I need to do. (Hello—knee replacements?)

Not #playingtowin.

I discussed this with an artist friend who acts as my job search/life coach accountability partner. I brought up Dick Fosbury, the Olympian who in 1968 revolutionized the high jump because the standard technique did not work well for him and he thought he could jump higher by turning it around. And she mentioned Sara Hughes, the Olympian who in 2002 skated “with complete abandon” because she was in fourth place and she had nothing to lose by giving it her all.

Here's the footage if you've not seen it before; watch to the end to see her reaction to the scores:

So here’s our homework for next week’s call: imagine what we individually might accomplish if we just turned a challenge on its head. And picture what doing something as though we had nothing to lose might look like.

We both burst out laughing at the prospect, but we agreed that reality does not enter into the calculation this week. The exercise is to slip the surly bonds of earth and consider what might be.

This is by no means a resolution. It is a much needed exploration. I’m down with it.