According to The Muppets “It is the summer of the soul in December” - something easy to forget in the fairy lit flash of the fading year. While the world demands we get in a social whirl before bouncing into the damp squib that is January, brimming with joie de vivre, the bleak midwinter days beckon us to retreat and reflect.
Which is why I decided to do just that with Susannah Conway’s December Reflections photo challenge. A one-to-few-word prompt. A photo a day. Et voila: some revelations - like, I really should really write more stuff down - some resolutions (of sorts), and 2016 segued into 2017 like a slinky.
“Why don’t you cover a big cork bulletin board in bright pink felt, banded with bamboo, and pin with coloured thumb-tacks all your various enthusiasms as your life varies from week to week?”
2016 was… fleeting
It just was wasn’t it? From David Bowie’s demise to Donald Trump’s rise, through Brexit confusion, poppy fascism (involving Cookie Monster), Willy Wonka cashing in his golden ticket, Team GB achieving Olympic glory, Wonder Woman becoming and unbecoming UN ambassador, Princess Leia laying down her hair buns and the unsinkable Debbie Reynolds taking her last voyage. Speedy. And a wee bit surreal.
My word for 2017 - embracing
Words are powerful. There are mum magic words, like ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, or pseudo magic ones like ‘abracadabra’. But the shinto concept of kotodama believes that words contain spiritual power. Indeed playwright Tom Stoppard reckons words are sacred and deserve respect. So how about choosing a word for the year? A kind of intention foundation. A compass to guide you through the Alphabetti Spaghetti confusion of life post truth. Whatever that means…
Best lesson of 2016 - write stuff down
Speaking of magic words write them down. Capturing thoughts and ideas on paper or laptop or smartphone anchors them. Obviously a pretty useful aide-memoire - as my inability to remember anything about 2016 bar political upheaval and celebrity deaths revealed - writing stuff down can be revelatory. Some writer once said she didn’t know what she thought till she wrote it. Ditto.
Best decision of 2016 - feed your soul
It’s easy to skimp on soul food. But it’s kinda like consuming life fast food-style. There’s no real nourishment. I used to think the stuff that made my heart sing was all stuff and nonsense: drawing stuff, collaging stuff, making stuff, watching stuff, visiting stuff. What was the point? Where did it get you? Except of course it gets you just where you need it.
Best day of 2016 - The Red Shoes ballet
Speaking of Powell & Pressburger’s 1948 film The Red Shoes choreographer Matthew Bourne said: “[The film] with its depiction of a group of people all passionate about creating something magical and beautiful … seemed to be saying that art was something worth fighting for…[it] asked us to take art seriously as a life-changing force: something that gives intense joy but also asks for sacrifices.”
My wish for this year
Don’t have a wishbone where your backbone oughta be. A real jelly (as my mum would say) when it comes to speaking up this saying strikes a nerve. So my wish for 2017 is to become a wise-cracking whip-smart dame in the vein of screwball queen Rosalind Russell. Apparently she and old Cary Grant notched up 240 wpm in His Girl Friday - the movie norm is just 90...