Reconnecting with Old Friends

As we settle into a new year, how can you reconnect with practices that nurture your creativity?

As we begin the new year, I am grateful for the spaciousness January offers. After the fullness of the holiday season, it feels like a chance to settle into routine again. 

There are many tools offered for reflecting on the past year and setting intentions for the new year. Often, it seems our conversations around resolutions focus on self-improvement, happiness, and productivity goals. 

I am curious about another way of reflecting on this new beginning and especially on the spaciousness of this month. What if we saw it as a chance for reconnection?

I am part of an online community where participants have the invitation to share a practice that nurtures our souls each week. Last week, I wrote about visiting Huntley Meadows Park. Another person posted about returning to a journaling practice for the new year. Each of us, independently, described our practices as returning to spend time with an old friend. I love thinking of a journal and a park as old friends and the shift this makes in a return to practices. 

For many years I walked weekly at Huntley Meadows. This practice nourished me and supported my project in those years of preparing for shows of my artwork in the park. 

In recent years, as my focus has shifted, the weekly habit has slipped away. Rather than berate myself for this and resolve to correct it, I enjoyed just revisiting, reconnecting, and seeing what this special place had to share with me after some time away. The photo at the top of this newsletter is from my recent walk; I fell in love with the way the late morning light caught the fluffy cattail seeds. It felt like reconnection with myself to pause, captivated by this wonder and invited to savor it through my camera. My old friend felt familiar and had something new to share with me. 

Resolution and Reconnection

As I think of my own associations with each of these words, I hear the word “solve” at the center of resolution while I hear “connect” at the center of reconnection. The latter feels more accessible, possible to deepen over time. Solving feels like more pressure, a one and done sort of activity. 

Looking up the etymology of each word, I was surprised to find that the etymology of resolution is less about stringent commitment and more about loosening. Definitions for resolve include: to loosen, untie, reduce to simpler forms. 

The connection to New Year’s resolutions, goal setting and commitments, stems from the definition of resolve as determination and having chosen a path. 

After reading about the etymology of resolution, I see a fuller picture when I apply a broader definition to resolution. I can include the ideas of loosening and simplifying, activities that fit well with the winter season. I can still determine a path forward but there is room for exploration and slowness.

Reconnection with practices that feel like old friends allows me to see things anew as with the discovery of the illuminated cattails. It also allows me to trust that practices which feel like old friends can support me as I share new phases. While I am not currently working on a show for Huntley Meadows, I do plan to visit more often as it is a landscape that helps me feel reflective and connected and that supports my writing practice too.

I would love to hear from you too. What practices might have slipped away in the rush of the holiday season? What might you long to return to like an old friend?

How can loosening and simplifying help you move into the spaciousness of January?

My delight in my walk at Huntley Meadows does not necessarily mean I will return to weekly walks there. And yet, I am glad I took the time to check in and reconnect. Just as there are seasons to friendships, there are seasons and ebbs and flows in the practices that support our creativity.

One practice I am glad to return to is this newsletter. Thank you for your attention and sharing. Sending out short pieces of writing helps support my commitment this year toward my book. 

With a grateful heart,

Kathryn

First hike of the New Year, January 1, 2024