Looking Out My Back Window #182

Originally posted on Facebook HERE

The tree stays up until Groundhog Day, that’s the rule around here ? – so, a new year, new possibilities, and a really bizarre year is finally in the rear view mirror. I often set goals, or intentions at the beginning of a new year – last year I wanted to improve aspects of my bass playing (slapping and tapping), become a better singer, and maybe write and record a jazz/rock fusion album (with a band that at the time wasn’t even formed yet), and a solo bass album. Well… I did work on slapping and tapping on bass and I’m much better now than I was then. I’m still not so great, but I kept up with that one. Singing? I took vocal lessons and maybe I got better, but never really took the time to properly work on it, so… didn’t really accomplish that one. Didn’t write a single song for a solo bass album, so – nope, not even close there. But – we did start a fusion band and have seven songs out of the ten we want to record an album. Just didn’t get it done in 2020. So, last years intentions did have positive results even if they weren’t all hit. This year, for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel the need to set any goals at all. I’ll keep working on the goals from last year that I didn’t hit, that’s good enough for me. Wasn’t really thinking about the New Years “resolutions” or anything like that until my weekly meeting with my yoga instructor yesterday, when she mentioned something she read about setting a one word intention for the year. As soon as she said it, I knew my word for 2021 would be “kindness”. Just one word. Make it a focus point for the year. I’ve mentioned the Streaks app in my book “Everybody Dies”, I use it daily to track a plethora of things I do on a daily basis. Many of then get checked off every day. One that has been on there for a long time, but certainly isn’t checked every day – not even close – is “do something kind”. It just hasn’t really become a big enough focus in my life. I think this is a great year to try to change that. Doing something kind doesn’t have to be a huge deal, cost anything, or take up a great amount of time. It can be as simple as letting an artist know how much you’ve always loved their work. Giving something away you no longer have a use for that you know someone else will. Of course, if you’re in a position to give financially, there are ample ways to donate and help people and organizations that you feel good about supporting. And once you set an intention like that – whatever your word is – and carry that intention with you on a daily basis, you start to look for creative ways to get more of it into your life. It could be “health” or “prosperity” or “love” or “growth”… whatever it is that you want to see more of in your life, make that the word of intention for the year, then look for ways to make it more of a focus. Going back to my word of the year “kindness”, I’m going to try to find a way to do something kind every day for the rest of the year. If I do that, don’t you think by then it’ll just be part of who I am and what I do every day even after the year is over? What if everyone set that as a goal, we all started doing one kind thing every day? Small acts repeated can change the world. Small acts repeated can change your life. What is your intention for 2021? It can be as simple as choosing one word…