How has the New Year greeted you?

It has greeted me with plumbers, roofers, and soon a mechanic. Such is living in the modern world.

As I type this, it’s cold. 27 degrees according to the magical hunk of tech I carry around. That I can look at a slim humanmade object and know the exact time and temp instantly is thanks to science. It is also magical.

I don’t mean magical as in point a wand. I don’t mean magic as seen on TV. I mean magical as wondrous. Here we are, often foolish and mean, but we are capable of looking at the world, thinking about it, and using what it contains so that we can hold a seemingly infinite amount of information in the palm of our hand.

Perhaps technology is dark magic. Creating it causes problems. Do we possess it or it possesses us? Nonetheless, it’s amazing and helps many.

But technology or no, the calendar in this part of the world says January, named for Janus, the god of two faces who looks forward and back, the god of doorways and transitions. I wrote about resolutions in my previous post, but I’m still in a January state of mind. Looking back is fairly easy. This happened and then that happened and then this other thing. Honestly, it wasn’t a great year. It was filled with stress and unwanted change.

What’s this next year going to bring? The possibilities overwhelm me with anxiety. Unknowns, the good, the bad, and the glorious and horrifying, come with every year, but since my aging father moved in, it’s been hard not to focus on the bad and horrifying.

So, I’ve chosen my word of the month. Or more accurately, I’ve chosen a word to keep in mind until it feels like it’s time for a different word. No timeline, just until further notice. And that word is extraordinary.

It came to me after I read this Marginalian post (which was shared with me in Story-a-Day Superstars founder, Julie Duffy). And thanks to a gift card, I received this book, Make Art No Matter What. (Which I finally gave in and bought because Austin Kleon kept talking about it and I enjoyed their chat.) I’m almost halfway through it!

Beth writes,

What is my definition of an artist? The quick and dirty is this: Artists are people who make art. My deeper understanding is that artists are people who are profoundly compelled to make their creative work, and when they distanced from their practice, their life quality suffers. Making their work is a way to take care of themselves, communicate, process information, engage a spiritual interior, or strengthen their relationship to themselves and others. That’s a tall order though, and it’s totally fine if you relate to the short definition: Artists make art. (p.10)

After all that, I thought, what do I really need in the New Year? I mean, aside from good outcome for Dad, health for my family, a steady income, Patreon patrons, more time for art and writing, and no more household repairs? Magic. Joy. The extraordinary.

This year I shall be looking for, remembering, and honoring the extraordinary in the everyday and in my writing and art.

I hardly believe this will banish the anxiety. That would be extra extraordinary indeed. But I hope it keeps it in check. I hope it points to the time I actually do have for my art.

You are going to die. I will, too. We have to make choices about time because we have the finite gift of one existence. You should make your art. ~ Beth Pickens.

Being able to make things is extraordinary. And thanks to technology, I can share those things. So, when we get to next January (should we be so blessed by the fates) and we look back, what art shall we see?

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Thanks for reading!