SPLICED LIFE /
ISSUE 02
COLUMN
So… It’s the time of year when people earnestly renew their gym
contracts with every intention of living a life more akin to Mother
Teresa with a Gupta paygrade and an 8-pack. Voila! A whole new
sparklier, shiner, healthier, happier you.
Until February.
Stop being such a pussy.
The predictability of it gets tiresome, so the leaves
turn again, with a disgruntled huff and the more
resolute standpoint of ‘I will change nothing!’
For every spark of genius, there are a thousand more
waiting to rip it apart. Be bold. The worst that can
happen is that you’ll:
The problem with that is - nothing changes.
Fuck it up entirely.
The whole point of resolutions is to re-evaluate
your choices. Take a step back from your own selfcreated utopia for a second and ask yourself that
most disconcerting of questions - am I happy? The
(probable) answer: Yeah. Mostly…
And you’re gonna. Embrace it. Make mistakes. Big
ones. Then figure out why and fix them. If you don’t
know how, learn. If you don’t think you can handle it:
But I could be better.
Thing is, once you’ve started your something, you’ll
realize something else, and the whole reason people
do somethings at all – is to be reminded that they’re
still capable of surprising themselves.
The only people that don’t need to make resolutions
are those that live in a perpetual state of bliss.
They have climbed every mountain and wake each
morning with a singing bluebird on their shoulder. To
those people (both of them) I say good luck with that.
For the rest of us who haven’t quite gotten there yet,
here are some suggestions:
Start Something. Anything.
Switch off the TV. Go outside. See what that does
for your sense of wonderment. The world out
there is large, and filled with amazing people doing
astounding things. The only way any of them have
managed it is by standing up and starting something.
Anything.
03
Everyone has that thing. That thing they’ll do
someday. Write a book. Have an exhibition. Stage
the musical rendition of their sexual history. Create
a super-villain themed wardrobe for their cats.
Travel the world. Pick one and do it. We as humans
are designed to strive for more. Everyone has that
ache, that yearning to do more, to be more, to create
something. Some do; they create cities. Others,
castles in the sky. Each has started exactly where you
are now; with a whim. The only difference is – they
were nuts (or bored) enough to act on it.
Give yourself the opportunity to astound yourself.
Engage with the time/space continuum.
Life is long (until it’s done. But who know when that’ll
be, so it’s not a valid excuse.) A lot happens in a week.
There’s always more time. And the busier you are, the
more time there is. The adage "if you want something
done, ask a busy person" is true.
The trick is:
Be selfish.
Living with any kind of intention is like dieting. If you
deny yourself your levities, the whole thing loses
its flavour and you’ll just end up eating the entire
cheesecake. Exercise your right to choose. Pick what
you watch, who occupies your time, what you put
into your body. And make each of them de.li.cious.
If you’re sharing your time with people - want to be
there. If you’d rather stay home to knit, then knit. Fill
your time with experiences that fill feed you, and by
doing so it enriches the flavour of everything you do;
and as if by osmosis, everyone around you.
So go.
Do stuff.
Be brilliant.
'Til next year. Then you can make all new mistakes.
But that’s next year.
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