I Love This Word

I think the word 'resolution' is really cool. Typically meaning a solution, accommodation, or settling of a problem or controversy, it can be used in many settings, from the formality of a meeting of Congress to the privacy of one's prayers. It denotes firmness of purpose. But it also has a curious touch of human frailty in it: the irony of re-solving something. Does that mean it wasn't solved the first time and we need a re-do? I often have to re-solve my resolutions.

Another common definition refers to the clarity or sharpness of an image on a display screen. Good resolutions are clearly defined.

One definition of resolution is new to me: the act or process of resolving or separating into constituent or elementary parts. That definition can strengthen my resolutions; I can break my goals into elementary, achievable parts. Smart.

My favorite definition of 'resolution' relates to music. There it means the progression of a voice part or the harmony as a whole from dissonance to consonance. One legendary story about resolution is that Wolfgang Mozart's dad would wake him up in the morning by playing a chord progression on the piano without resolving it; Mozart could not bear to leave the progression unfinished and would get up to play the resolution. Disharmony is that disquieting.

Maybe the most inspired definition of resolution is this: a reduction to a simpler form. Can I simplify?

Resolutions: solutions, sometimes a second or subsequent effort, made with fortitude, clarity, and defined steps that lead to consonance and simplicity. Got it.

New Year Resolutions

I find myself always in imaginary conversations with people I know, discussing the things I am learning. It seems I am always stretching inside, working to find some new insight into the process of living wisely. This blog is my attempt to crystalize those conversations and make them more productive. Maybe a discussion will spark your interest as well, and a conversation inside my head can actually become real! I'd certainly learn more if I wasn't the only one thinking!

The world inside my head includes an eclectic mix of philosophy, theology, school (since I teach 6th grade at an elementary school), and family issues.

It is my 2011 New Year's Resolution to write.

Happy New Year!