Rural Routes/Margot Ford McMillen

Try New Things in the New Year

The big finale of the winter holiday season is beginning a new year with the chance to create a new, improved you. And after a few of these new years have passed, you’re the best you can be and it’s tempting to start going backward. Finally lost those pesky 10 pounds? Congratulations! Now, you can gain them back. Finally reduced that carbon footprint so everyone on the planet can live like you? Maybe it’s time to take a plane trip to the Galapagos.

Just kidding, of course. But one of the good things about New Year’s resolutions is that nobody except yourself is keeping track of your success or failure. It’s like a bet with yourself. “I bet I can give up sweets after 7 p.m.” or “I bet I can pay off all my credit cards.”

Most resolutions have to do with health, finances or relationships. There’s the “work out at the gym every morning” resolution, the “save money” and the “be nicer to co-workers” resolution.

This year, I’m going to try a new one: Get informed on a subject that’s entirely new to me. The mind reels. Maybe I’ll learn about Hong Kong history. Or life in the deep sea. Or maybe I’ll renew my efforts to figure out what my Republican friends are thinking. Is that even possible? One neighbor has already hung his “Trump 2020” banner, but last time I passed by it was hanging by a thread. Is that an omen?

The best resolution I’ve ever made was inspired by my son-in-law who went a year without buying anything new. Well, he bought one bike inner tube after the patches on his old one seemed dangerous.

Trying that buy-nothing-new resolution myself, I found that I enjoy shopping at re-sale shops and fixing old stuff to be re-purposed.

And my husband and friends got into it also. When one of us finds something smashing, we wear it to the next big event and the Q and A begins: Where did that come from? When did you find it? How much did you pay? When you’re buying sweaters for a couple of bucks, it’s hard to not be greedy. And if you really don’t like to shop, you might find a friend to look around for you. Rebecca, who loves to shop, takes our lists and looks for stuff we’ll like.

Some folks say you should make tiny resolutions, like take a walk every night after supper. I say a pox on that idea. Go for the big win. Create a new habit. That’s the best you can wish for, resolution-wise. A new good habit.

So, when we think about the new year, we might think about things that can help our community. There might be a community project that can use another shoulder to the wheel. Volunteering at the soup kitchen, the senior center, the homeless shelter, are projects in my area that need help. And, 2020 is election year, so you might throw in with a candidate and go door-to-door to get out the vote.

For women, especially, 2020’s an important anniversary: 100 years of suffrage, after at least 150 years of struggle to win the vote. Resolve to talk about the importance of going to the polls when you get with friends at your neighborhood gatherings, church meetings, yoga classes and book clubs. It’s safe to predict that we’ll all be awash in mailings and advertisements for one issue or another, so let’s all resolve to understand all the issues on the ballot in our district and to vote our conscience.

We can’t predict the twists and turns that will spin us around between now and the next election, but we can bet that the climate will be one of the issues. Last year, in an effort to fight climate change by reducing my carbon footprint, I resolved to only drive the 20 miles to town when I had three errands that needed doing. This year, I’m upping it to four errands. And I’ll park the car in a central location and walk where I need to go. Besides reducing my carbon footprint, I’ll save money and also ramp up the healthy lifestyle I’m always looking for.

My son-in-law, for his part, resolved last year to refuse the use of styrofoam completely. I retaliated with the resolution to completely give up plastic grocery bags. He did better than I. He always has a stainless steel tumbler hanging off his backpack. Impressive. Half the time, I forget my grocery bags in the car. In 2020, I’ll try again.

Because, bottom line, that might be the best gift of New Year’s resolution making … if it’s a good resolution, and we fail to keep it, we can renew our intentions next year. Nobody but us is keeping track.

Margot Ford McMillen farms near Fulton, Mo., and co-hosts “Farm and Fiddle” on sustainable ag issues on KOPN 89.5 FM in Columbia, Mo. She also is a co-founder of CAFOZone.com, a website for people who are affected by concentrated animal feeding operations. Her latest book is “The Golden Lane: How Missouri Women Gained the Vote and Changed History”. Email: margotmcmillen@gmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, December 15, 2019

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