Magic January

In another attempt to outrun the idea of New Year’s resolutions, I decided to explore what one friend calls “magic” January. We hold the idea in our heads that once the holiday activities of November and December have come to an end there will be a long, slow white expanse of days. Once the nutcracker finds his way back into the box of Christmas decorations and all of the pines needles have been swept up, there will be endless hours. All of the goals that have been put on hold for two months (or more!) will successfully be achieved. This is truly the outlook of optimist.

I decided to put magic January to the test by taking an inventory of my creative projects, and choosing one to work on every day, if only for a short while. If you are like me, that “short while” turns into hours. Creative focus often equates to losing track of time, as artist brain wins out over logic brain. So, the focus of my attention this month is writing. I’ve assigned myself the task of writing an essay each day. It’s harder to do than it sounds, but I work well with goals that are time-specific, at least within the span of just one month – my concession to logic brain.

But I also don’t give myself too many other limitations to work with. While I might call the writings “essays” they are not restricted to any subject or style. Some days a scholarly tone ponders subjects like the question of sanity in Cervantes’ Don Quixote, or the connection between metaphor and painting. Other days I record the musing of my inner child, or details of a dream, or lines of a found poem, such as, “Mutant Petunias Sing the Blues.” The important thing is to show up. Show up with intent and do the work. Oh, and send your inner critic to Siberia for the month. Magic January will take care of the details.

“To much sanity may be madness –

and the maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be!”

from Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (1605)