It's tough to consider 2013. Although I've consolidated many skills and abilities, I also have to consider that it is wise for me to simply build on what I've done so far, rather than try any very new trajectories. One must submit to old age to some degree, not in the sense of being resigned or crippled, but rather in understanding that human life begins on a slender stem which ideally grows into a tuber, with belly ripe around the middle, rich and crisp.
I've learned that I am very good at a lot of endeavors. I'm a radically free mind that accepts no potted ideologies. My critical thinking skills are at an all time high. The difference between the middle-aged me and the more childish and earnest one is that I've learned how much social and cultural conditioning delimits our awareness. The younger me fought against these psychological limits both in myself and in others. The current me is not inclined to fight these as restrictions, but rather to use my awareness of cultural, intellectual and social differences to draw boundaries around myself that serve to protect and reinforce my sense of identity.
Maturity should be enjoyed, not struggled against. After one has striven very hard to become what one is, one ought not to continue struggling, but one should enjoy the outcomes of one's efforts.
So, my new year's resolution for 2013 is to forge ahead without worrying. I embrace aspects of Buddhism, which assert that one's force is best expressed by extremely natural means. We see this in martial arts, too. If you tense your body you withhold the force from your strike. Punches flow more naturally when one is looser. Then they are stronger; more reflexive.
So I'll continue on my merry way, assuming that strength has a tendency to form into particular nodules and to aggregate.
I've given up trying to understand middle-class culture from the inside. One must stop giving energy to futile projects for ones tubers to have nourishment to grow.
I've learned to relax more and draw limits. These measures also grow potatoes.
I do think I'm a much better person for the wisdom I've accumulated over many years. I'm not inclined, as so many women are, when the years accumulate, to lament one's lost youth. I don't lament it as these years were hard for me, full of stress and struggle and not much merriment.
Nowadays, though, what is not to like?
I've learned that I am very good at a lot of endeavors. I'm a radically free mind that accepts no potted ideologies. My critical thinking skills are at an all time high. The difference between the middle-aged me and the more childish and earnest one is that I've learned how much social and cultural conditioning delimits our awareness. The younger me fought against these psychological limits both in myself and in others. The current me is not inclined to fight these as restrictions, but rather to use my awareness of cultural, intellectual and social differences to draw boundaries around myself that serve to protect and reinforce my sense of identity.
Maturity should be enjoyed, not struggled against. After one has striven very hard to become what one is, one ought not to continue struggling, but one should enjoy the outcomes of one's efforts.
So, my new year's resolution for 2013 is to forge ahead without worrying. I embrace aspects of Buddhism, which assert that one's force is best expressed by extremely natural means. We see this in martial arts, too. If you tense your body you withhold the force from your strike. Punches flow more naturally when one is looser. Then they are stronger; more reflexive.
So I'll continue on my merry way, assuming that strength has a tendency to form into particular nodules and to aggregate.
I've given up trying to understand middle-class culture from the inside. One must stop giving energy to futile projects for ones tubers to have nourishment to grow.
I've learned to relax more and draw limits. These measures also grow potatoes.
I do think I'm a much better person for the wisdom I've accumulated over many years. I'm not inclined, as so many women are, when the years accumulate, to lament one's lost youth. I don't lament it as these years were hard for me, full of stress and struggle and not much merriment.
Nowadays, though, what is not to like?
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