This New Year, I look forward to doing a lot of things. In order to stay on track with my goals, I’ve narrowed down my resolutions to these 3 basic principles. They are illustrated in my “Hear, See, Speak” crows illustration, that I created back in 2009 as a twist on the old “Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil” monkeys. To Hear, See, Speak more still stands true, and in this exact order.
Resolution #1: Hear more
– Listen to more music! I’ve already started on this a few years ago by trying to be more open and appreciative to different kinds of music. My favorite types of music have always been and still are classic rock and alternative rock. But 2012 was all about dubstep. 2013 has been mostly about Miley Cyrus. 2014 might just be Justin Timberlake. However, I can pretty much guarantee that I still can’t enjoy country music 😀
– Hear people’s stories, if they’re willing to share them. In order to hear better stories, ask open-ended questions. Who, what, where, when, why, and how – these type of questions are open-ended, where there is no “Yes” or “No” answer. Questions like, “So, did you drive or walk home?” are judging and limiting, and instantly create a disagreement with an answer like, “No, I somersaulted home.”
Resolution #2: See more
– Notice more good and beauty in yourself, other people, things, and events. In some of my experience, it’s been very hard to do but always worth trying. Spend less time focusing on imperfections, and focus more on the good traits. Often, even the bad traits are not really bad traits, but traits that are misused or the energy from those traits is misdirected.
– See more places. Go somewhere you’ve never been before. My goal this year is to visit a state I haven’t been to, yet. I’ve been dreaming of visiting San Francisco and California for a long time and will be making this dream my reality this year. The main reason I haven’t been able to go is because I didn’t have enough money. But once I made travel my focus, I saved up enough pretty quickly. And when I do go, I’ll be sure to write all about how I somersaulted my way there!
Resolution #3: Speak more
– For someone who doesn’t speak much in person, I do enjoy words a lot. Maybe you don’t speak out loud as much, but you write. Or you do any of these: sing, act, play guitar, dance, draw, photograph, video, program, play basketball, breathe. Your actions speak louder than words, so your contributions to the world ARE your voice. Since discovering my own voice, through drawing and writing, I’ve gotten even more opportunities to speak.
– With my artwork, this blog, and with IllustrArticles – I speak out my stories, ideas, and passions. In 2014, I choose to focus on this even more. Most of my life I’ve felt like something is wrong with me: “Why don’t I talk more? Do the people around me think I’m really creepy or stuck-up if I don’t say much? Why don’t I participate more in group discussions?” And then I write a giant blog post like this (and this final post isn’t even half of the length that the draft was.) This is an example of how to see the energy of a seemingly bad personality trait that was misdirected.
The result: Feel more
The point of actually practicing my Hear, See, Speak ideals is that I feel more happy, calm, and at peace. It’s harder for things to get me down or to annoy me. And I hope that by sharing my goals and experiences, it helps the people who want to develop these skills, too.
Truth be told: you can hear, see, and speak more clearly through rose-colored ribbons. So whether you’re sozzled or snoozing as the clocks strike midnight, I hope your 2014 is happy!