I Got Moxie

Haven't got your resolutions for the New Year completed yet?
Hold on a sec, and consider a new approach.

Christine Kane, singer-wongwriter, life coach and all around fabulous human spirit, has an inspired way of looking at how you can move into your new year.  Go ahead, take a peek, I can wait.

Who among us hasn't made a laundry list of goals and achievements for the coming 12 months?  It's de rigueur don'tcha know? Usually the list starts off with something about weight, or getting in shape. Move on to being nicer, or more tolerant or less meddling.  In the case of creative types, add a museum exhibit or a major award in a juried show.  Wrap it up with global peace and puppy for every child. Did I mention getting in shape?

You know the scenario.  February rolls around, your righteous indignation is the only thing getting a workout and there's no more time to get into your studio than there was last year.  The world is still at war and those darn kids won't leave their wii's long enough to even notice there's a dog chewing the furniture.  Another set of resolutions bites the dust.

A few years ago I took Christine's nudge to a new life to heart. Rather than make another resolution that would only gather dust, I selected a word to hold in my heart during the new year. The first year I chose the word 'engage'.  The visual for me was two gears moving together to mesh, thereby moving an entire set of gears and machinery into motion. Whispering engage into my own ear helped move me up into higher levels of self awareness, creativity and health. It was gentle and yet persistant.  It was a powerful enough experience that I used the same word again the next year.  The benefit is that there's no achieving a particular result or completing a singular task thereby ending the exercise. It's truly a gift that keeps giving all year long.

   This year my word will be moxie.  Originally the name of a carbonated beverage in the first decades of the 1900's, today moxie has connotations of pep, determination and spunk.  Feeling uninspired today?  C'mon, get some moxie!  Need to make that appointment but feeling kind of shy?  Moxie! Ready to move a new direction with my art?  You got it - moxie. And conversely, when I need to back off, rest and reconsider, it'll take moxie to allow that too.

Plus, it's just plain fun to say.  M o x i e.

The Cowardly Lion was given the word courage by a kind Wizard.  It was just a word, but what a word it was.  The Tin Man likewise. Scarecrow's word for the year was brains, which opened up a world unknown to him before that moment. How would they have grown had the Wizard asked them for their New Years resolutions? Chances are they'd be right back where they were when Dorothy found them.

Lay down your list of resolutions and start fresh.
What will your word for the new year be?