Shaved Meats, Piled High: End of 2020 Edition
May I Have a Word with You?
Once upon a time, I had a blog. It was called The Memory Project and I used it to write micro-essays based on memory prompts. I also would file dispatches from my book tours and share good news. In 2007, I began an exercise called the one-word resolution, which I continued until the site shut down in 2015. (The archives are still there.) Since then, the one-word resolution has jumped around on social media platforms.
This year, I wasn’t going to do the one-word resolution at all. As a recovering perfectionist, I have grown skeptical of resolutions. I’ve been experimenting with what I call “push” goals, challenges that take me out of my comfort zone. Walking 5 miles a day, which I've been managing to do since December 1. Memorizing poetry, at which I’ve been less successful.
Also: 2020, amirite? I neither remember nor want to remember what word I chose last year. Seriously, don't remind me. I'd sooner look back at Sodom than think about where I was a year ago this week. Even for an atheist such as myself, 2020 was definitely a case of Man Plans, God Laughs. So let it be resolved: No more resolutions.
But I still want to have a goal for 2021, something to strive for without stressing over, something at which I am willing to fail. I found my inspiration in an old acronym, KISS -- and I then immediately went down a rabbit hole, trying to learn what I could about the origin of Keep It Simple Stupid. Or is it, Keep It Simple, Stupid? Or Keep It Smart and Simple? Or -- you get the point.
I'm a former reporter and a librarian's daughter; I've always tried to be picky about where I get my information and I encourage you to do the same. In searching the Internet for information about KISS, I decided that one of the more reliable sources was the Lockheed Martin biography for Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, who may or may not have coined the phrase, but definitely loved it -- and definitely used the version with "Stupid" in it. In fact, this is my favorite line from his company bio: "Imperious, passionate, and demanding, Johnson was just as likely to deliver a kick to someone’s pants as a compliment to his face." Patriarchy, amirite? I'm trying to imagine a woman in corporate life who would be celebrated for being volatile and abusive, but I digress.
Or do I? Looking ahead to 2021, one thing I am hopeful for is a very different kind of rhetoric coming from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. I happen to think words matter. How can I not; I've made a living with them for 30+ years. The coarse, abusive tone from the 45th president was, I think, damaging to our country. This is not a call for civility above all. There are opinions (and people) who need to be shouted down. Sometimes literally, in the case of those mask-less people ranting in retail establishments.
Anyway: KISS. It's harder than it sounds. And it's an acronym, but it's one you could slide past the New York Times Spelling Bee.
The Mystery Box will resume at some point, as will the monthly version of this newsletter. I also will return to tracking my reading, something that took a real hit in 2020. I'm going to see if I can up my average steps per day from 8k to 10k and keep taking photos on my morning walks. I'm going to write a book. I'm going to promote another one. I'm going to plan my meals weekly and grocery shop on Sundays. In every way, literal and figurative, I'm just going to keep putting one damn foot in front of the other and considering it a privilege to do so. I sincerely feel lucky to be alive right now. I can't believe the United States has lost more than 330,000 people to Covid. Real resolve was what the pandemic required and so many elected officials failed us in 2020. If you lost someone or multiple someones important to you, I'm sorry.