Welcome to Micro Monday, where you get a quote and a writing prompt every Monday to help you build a portfolio of work. This week: New Year's revolution.
Quote of the Week: “Forget about what you used to do. This is the moment you’ve been waiting for.” Jack LaLanne
Writing Prompt of the Week: Two people meet in a bar. After a few drinks, they’re shocked to realize they’ve met before. When did they meet and what happened in the past? What’s going to happen in the future? Write for 20 minutes.
If you’re new to micro and writing with me, check out this post here.
Revolution over Resolution
Here we go … 2023. What’s your New Year’s revolution?
You heard me right. I am over those darn resolutions. The word even sounds like surrender, like giving up. It’s flat and uninspired.
Some definitions: a resolution is a firm decision to do or not to do something while a revolution is a fundamental change from one structure to another, occurring over a relatively short period of time. You don’t drag out a revolution. Listen to the difference: a New Year’s resolution versus a New Year’s revolution. The latter is powerful and full of possibility.
A Year For Change
Revolutions occur when people have had enough. Revolutions upend things. They shake things up, they stir the pot, they don’t bother with challenging but go straight to changing. Revolutions are about a shift, not later, but now. By the time you’ve figured out a revolution is going on, it’s almost over.
Revolutions are messy. Revolutions are not polite. If you’re happy with your life right now, then a revolution may not be in order. The need for a revolution doesn’t reside with those who are happy or content—just those ready for (and demanding) something better. It goes beyond desire or wishful thinking. If an area of your life has become untenable, then batten down the hatches—a revolution may be coming.
Start Your New Year’s Revolution
Books are full of revolutions. We are drawn into a story because we want to see how a character changes, how they make decisions in the face of crisis or challenge, even if it’s as simple as falling in love for the first time. What, you thought revolutions were all bloody and full of bayonets and Molotov cocktails? Sometimes. But more often than not revolutions are happening all around us, in our lives and the lives of others. Something has to change, and so it does. The change itself is not always what’s important—it’s how we respond or react that is.
Revolutions favor the prepared. Preparation doesn’t ensure success, but it can give you a leg up when things start happening. Taking stock now and looking at what needs to change in your life can make a big difference, because you can be proactive rather than reactive. In the right hands (like yours), revolutions are opportunities.
Looking to make some changes this year? Check out this post on setting goals for the new year. Start the year writing with my self-paced 90-minute guided course, The Micro Memoir Workshop (Beginnings), which includes 3 live writing prompts, a download, and tips on writing new this year. You can also join in any of these workshops, live or recorded, to help keep you writing.
What’s your New Year’s revolution? Share in the comments below. Until next time, write well!
This post originally appeared in Darien’s column, The Writer’s Corner, in North Hawaii News, and has been gently modified for writer-ish.com.
