'Tis The Season To Be Kind
In every good year there are challenges - Let's Share Them Too!
At the end of the year it is positive and natural to reflect. As the calendar moves forward we are encouraged to commit to resolutions so that we can be better next year. After the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere the days start to gradually lengthen and the journey begins to the fertile season of Spring transforming into the long, light and warm days of Summer before the harvest.
We want to look forward with hope. We follow the example of the ancient Pagans and make promises to ourselves, our friends and the Gods to live better, hoping that our resolutions will bring us the gifts and rewards we desire.
The Pagans also made sacrifices to their Gods in exchange for blessings. We don’t need to offer our goods, harvest or animals on an altar in order to make meaningful New Year resolutions, but in order to become better we have to admit what needs improving!
Every December is filled with reviews of the previous12 months ranging from the 50 Best Films to the 100 Best Football Players and everything in between. In our own lives there is the pressure to present our own personal shiny Annual Highlights Reel to the world. In the past I have created Instagram posts, videos and newsletters to let the world know how much I have achieved in the past 12 months. For 2023 I included working on an Arts Festival, mentoring creatives, supporting the development of new creative work and joining the management board of a multimillion pound urban regeneration project. My wife and I also sold our house in the UK and moved to the Republic of Ireland. Wow! What a year, what a picture of success, of achievement and positivity!
This year, though, I let people know about the things that didn’t go right - of which there were many including working for 9 months on a potential deal with a huge theatre and movie star that just would not happen. There were the meetings about new projects that didn’t materialise and the potential creative partnerships that remained just that - potential. I thought it was important for my development to reflect equally on what made things work and what got in the way.
But more than that it seemed that if we offer a more balanced personal review of our year we can be kinder to ourselves and, by extension, kinder to others by showing that to be fallible is to be human. And surely spreading kindness is something that the whole world needs right now!
Happy Holidays and all the best for a wonderful New Year 2024. Thank you for choosing to spend time reading the JasonWard Creative Substack. Your support is appreciated.