New Years Reso--Who Cares? Let's Eat Ice Cream

[Insert comment about resolutions rarely ever amounting to anything.]

[Insert comment about doing them anyway.]

Now that we've got all that out of the way...

Happy New Year!

This year I resolve to eat ice cream every day of the year.

Oh wait. Oops. I've already failed that one. But only by, like, a day. And only because I'd already brushed my teeth that night and didn't want to brush them again.

So I suppose I need a new resolution. Maybe I should resolve to dye my hair or paint the bathroom. Except that would mean actually doing something, and it's much easier to keep a resolution that one is already accomplishing quite handily.

Very well, then. Instead I will resolve not to use the word "edgy" in any sense other than to mean a) "nervous" or b) "sharp-edged."

This is mostly (fine, entirely) because "edgy" was my least favorite word of 2014. Everyone kept talking about wanting "edgy" books with "edgy" characters... which as far as I could tell meant either "dark" or "sardonic."

And why exactly can't rainbows and butterflies be edgy? I mean, aside from the obvious fact that they have no sharp edges at all...

Well, even if I don't have any good resolutions for this year, I do have some solid goals. I'm going to start a new book. I'll attend a conference (or two). And I'll hopefully be launching some new side projects if all goes well.

Anyone else have any goals or not-so-serious resolutions for the year?

[Obligatory New Years Post]

[Typical well-wishing for a fortuitous new year]

[Cliché reminiscing over the previous year]

[Trite formation of a resolution for the coming months]

[Repetitive candy-coated well-wishing for this year]

But in all seriousness, I truly do hope for every one of you that this year brings you closer to the deepest wishes of your heart.

An Experiment in Truth

Everywhere I look I see New Year's Resolutions. If you're like me, you may be getting tired of the trend. In fact, you may even now be rolling your eyes and thinking “not another New Year post.”

So I'm going to try very hard not to repeat the same sentiments everyone else is sharing. Instead I want to talk for a while about truth.

Recently someone very special in my life mentioned that if he could change one thing about himself he would stop lying so much. He said that he doesn't trust people. He lies because he doesn't want to face the consequences of the truth.

I'm not going to expound on the virtues of telling the truth or the “tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.” But I do think that most of us want to be thought of as honest.

I know I want people to trust me. I want the person mentioned above to trust me. So that's my goal this year.

And with that in mind I want to introduce An Experiment in Truth. I'm going to work toward more honesty in my own life, particularly with regards to this person. I'm also going to attempt to write out one true thing a day to post on Facebook and Twitter. I won't promise it'll be deep out of respect of privacy concerns, but I will try not to be too shallow either.

If you are one of those people who struggles with telling the truth, or if you want to support someone who is relearning how to trust people, I encourage you to join me. I do understand that some people simply shouldn't be trusted, and some truths should only be shared with people you know well. But I think that the majority of us can benefit from learning to be more honest.

Who's with me?