We have now turned the page on a new year, and we all feel a sense of relief. Whether you have enjoyed quarantine or not, we look forward to gaining control over the virus and to pressing the restart button on school, jobs, and social lives. Unfortunately, though, we simultaneously recognize that these transitions will not happen immediately, and that lull could stymie our progress at the beginning of the year. To battle this hiatus and to consider our resolutions and our approach to January, I recommend breaking routines.
I am a creature of habit. I have long promoted routines as a way to ensure our children are energized, exercised, and efficient; however, our collective efficiency has dwindled over the many months of mostly online learning and working with minimal social interaction, so we need to find ways to disrupt our habits.
Too much routine can have a negative effect on our moods and our work product. When we rotate the same dinners, when we face the same schedules, when our teachers stick to assigning the same patterns of homework and projects, we feel hamstrung, sterile, and flat.
I strongly encourage all of us to turn to art to disrupt this constancy: whether we analyze a body of films, study or make visual art, appreciate or make music. Whether we read literature, cook, bake, or dance. Any of these pursuits, particularly when tweaked for the new year, can have a healing and energizing effect. Art activates emotions and improves brain function. Let’s make time for art and seek out new ways to introduce art into our lives this year.
For me, I plan to watch, study, and analyze Alfred Hitchcock movies and, for the first time, attempt to compose piano music. I will revisit my abandoned needlepoint project and pursue new recipes, as my dinner rotation has become stale.
For our children, let’s encourage them to dig deeply into an artistic endeavor as a creator, an appreciator, or both. They can choose a favorite musical artist and study his or her background, education, work, and impact. They can learn to weld, to create movies, or to decoupage. Hamilton enthusiasts can become experts on the works and life of Lin-Manuel Miranda. The choices are endless and hopefully exciting.
In addition to adopting an artistic endeavor, let’s change habits, big and small. Let’s put on the right shoe first, instead of the left. Let’s vary walking and running paths, do the laundry on Monday instead of Friday. Let’s eat something different for breakfast, and let’s order a new cup of brew at Starbucks.
Vince Lombardi once said, “Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.” We all truly need a fresh start, so let’s make 2021 better in many more ways than one and repattern our lives.