I have a thorough distaste for making New Year’s Resolutions. It’s a tradition that goads me into setting unrealistic goals, with which I often soon become impatient and wind up casting aside. Even so, I don’t just want to keep getting swept away by the soul crushing and mind numbing inanities of life, year after year. I want to be productive and proactive without letting high expectations get the better of me. At the start of 2009, I decided to simply delve into the things that interested me and not concern myself excessively with how they might progress or end.

After a quick review of last year’s work, I was amazed to realize that I wrote more in 2009 than I had in the previous three years combined. While I may not be staking any claim to fame or achievements that might impress anyone, I’d go as far as to say that 2009 was a phenomenal year for me. I’ve somehow become a part of this amazing global community of online writers. I’ve become acquainted with so many interesting and talented people, from so many diverse cultures and circumstances. Everyday, I learn or read something that electrifies and inspires me. A new year has begun and I simply want to keep sharing and growing as a writer.

Recently, a friend told me that she’d seen the work I’ve been posting online. We’re both changing and growing in wonderful ways–she proclaimed. Sometime ago, I’d mentioned her in a blog post–my writer/artist friend with the zen-monkish tendency to destroy her own work from time to time. Her art is modern, uniquely surreal and full of feeling. Still, she is able to reach beyond it all and now also makes beautiful music.

Recently, she shared something she’d made that has a bit of us both therein. The artwork in the video below is hers. The words are mine. The result was something quite sublime.

Our simple wish is to keep trying to see the world in new ways and not worry so much about how our endeavors will end when we haven’t even taken the first step yet.

Stop hesitating when you have a notion to try something new or different. Diving in head-first, with eyes wide open is almost always an educating and empowering experience. Give yourself a chance and you’ll truly come to realize that the goal is never nearly as important as the journey.