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| yes, this is from pinterest |
I find measuring events by their relation to the revolution of the earth about the sun to be so pre-Industrial Revolution.
But we tend to make resolutions all the same, or at least I do. And perhaps it's because, though January 1 is just another day signifying that, yes, the earth continues to truck around the sun, there is something built in to the human psyche that craves the feeling of newness and rebirth. Life is full of cycles, and I think God made us to see and appreciate the patterns He's built into the world. They provide, after all, a comforting reminder of His faithfulness and wisdom.
This is not to say that I will be making resolutions proper; Jenny already offered an excellent caveat to that. Nonetheless, the start of 2014 seems a good time to pause, say "ha ha! to the old year," and think a little about the one ahead. It promises something of minor interest for me: I'll be turning eighteen, which is somehow exciting (something about being able to vote, I understand) and supposedly a threshold into adult life. I don't know about that. I tend to think I have either been an adult for a while or will not be one for a while yet, but we oughtn't contradict Them in matters like these.
On a more mundane note, in a few days I'll be toddling back to college for a new semester. (According to my own misstatement, I'm going to be "an upper Freshman.") Full of quarks and Japanese history, this promises to be a more intense semester than the last and once again I make no promises as to the regularity of my posting. However, as I wade back into the world of syllabi and deadlines, I do hope to use what free time I have in a more productive fashion. No doubt I'll spend most of my day studying and panicking, as I did during the fall, but I know I can make use of the bits and pieces of extra time if I only apply myself with a little more diligence. When you've been plugging away at something mentally taxing, it's all too easy to spend the in between moments doing comfortingly mindless nothings that in moderation are refreshing, and in excess are a waste of your existence.
"KILLING TIME!" roared the dog - so furiously that his alarm went off. "It's bad enough wasting time without killing it."- tock, the phantom tollbooth
We're meant to do all to the glory of God, and to live diligently and wisely in this world - and though I suppose you could say that somehow we can pin to the glory of God, I've got to admit that I don't see how Pinterest helps us be salt and light or even a contributing member of society. I like Pinterest, of course, but using a spare moment to work on a review for Squeaky Clean Reviews or chip away at the rewrite of Wordcrafter would be a far more worthwhile undertaking than scrolling through boards.
And it seems to me that if one is old enough to vote on the political future of a nation, one is old enough to engage with dedication in a few worthwhile undertakings.
I still can't believe you're not yet eighteen. This befuddles me. Extremely.
ReplyDeleteOnly a week, my dear, and then you won't have to believe it! ^.^
DeleteCrap, I gotta get you a birfday present.
Delete"On a scale of 1 to Jenny, how last-minute was your shopping?" ;P
DeleteI was saying something of worth and then decided to stick out my Wit and pretend I'm funny, and whaddya know I clean forgot it! Just like Mona Melendy, I'm always stumbling after a moment of vanity.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, yes, a new year and more schoolwork to be tackled! Productivity is always a goal, but something about a new year makes it seem even more important - like life is slipping away and I'd better get things done or so help me! But I ought to have more time this semester, which means I've got to befriend Responsibility and Maturity a little more intimately in hopes my time will not be wasted. I suppose what I'm trying to say is though I complain about having no time to write/read because of school, the push of school in my schedule kept me on track, and without it my time is more often wasted. Oh the constant struggle for improvement!
I complain about school, too, but without it I tend to flounder and become peeved with the world. I suppose that's my curse: needing order and instruction and a few terrifying exams to kick it into high gear. I was bad during Christmas Break: I don't know what I'll do over the summer!
DeleteYou're not yet eighteen? And all this time I was under the impression that you were older than me!
ReplyDeleteAbigail moves more slowly through time than the rest of us, and so she ages faster over the course of fewer years.
ReplyDeleteIf using the solar cycle to commemorate events is anachronistic and a little absurd, then the government using it to arbitrarily determine the mental fitness of an individual to participate in certain activities is downright scary (although certainly in keeping with their m.o. of "anachronistic and absurd").
ReplyDeleteWhen does a desire move on to something fresh and new become discontent and inconstancy, and when does an unwillingness to do the same become apathy and lethargy? Am I Richard Carstone or Cornelius Suttree? And why are those the only options?
One does not know fear until one realizes that all one's classmates, who do not know who Nelson Mandela was and can hardly drag themselves out of bed to come to class, are able to vote and drive. Anyone for shrinking the franchise again...?
DeleteI see no reason for them to be the only options. I certainly hope not, at any rate: I only know Suttree from Wikipedia (always ready to oblige), but Carstone is "a Poop, Jeeves." They're both extremes. Naturally you could flit around like a butterfly, expecting to find perfection just over the next hill; naturally you could plod along with your shoulder to the same wheel when all hope of getting anywhere or attaining anything is long gone. But all things in moderation and considered with wisdom!
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ReplyDeleteYou'll now be 18 too... hurrah!! :D But you've always been so mature and grown-up ^_^, and turning eighteen will most likely only prove it to them. I must say, it hasn't made any difference with me yet (two weeks in), except that perhaps it feels more exciting - something like a new threshold (definitely more interesting than 17...). But I missed voting on the federal elections by 3 months. Ho hum...
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, Abigail! It is my wish, by God's grace, also, to 'do all to the glory of God, and to live diligently and wisely in this world' without squandering half-my-time on pinterest, youtube and blogger (you all DO have such interesting posts.)