Skip into the New Year

by Nancy Casey

One of the traditions of this season is to look ahead to the coming year and think about what it’s going to hold. There’s a whole imaginary year ahead of us. We can imagine it any way that we want.

People talk of making resolutions, setting goals, and changing their schedules. Not all your New Year’s thoughts need to be about discipline and resolve, though.

Today in your writing, as you think about the imaginary year ahead, ask yourself, “What shall I just skip?”

Imagine yourself skipping everything that you find tiresome or unpleasant. What don’t you want? Go ahead and skip all that. What kinds of experiences would you rather do without? Skip them, too.

Consider each of your five senses. What will you skip seeing? What won’t you hear? What foods, when offered, will make you say, “No thank you.” What trip won’t you take? When will you plug up your nose?

Think about the infinitely many ways you could finish a sentence that begins, “I will skip…”

Before you start to write, set up your page. Draw a line across the top where you will put a title after you have finished writing. Set aside some space for illustration or doodling. Drawing and doodling will keep your pen moving on the page while you are thinking up something to write.

On the first line, write the words, “I will skip…” and finish the sentence by naming something you will (or would like to) do without this year. You can explain as much or as little as you would like about it. Then begin a new sentence with “I will skip…” and continue down the page in this way.

When the page is full, go back over your work. Make small changes if you need to. Add some color or decoration to the page if you haven’t already. When you are satisfied with the page, give it a title and write the date on it, too. Here is an example of what someone could write.

You can share your work by posting it as a comment below. You can type it in, or take a photo of it and upload the image.

Nancy Casey has lived in Latah County for many years. You can find more of her work here. She taught the Write-For-You writing class at the Recovery Center last summer and will return again in the spring. For more information about classes and writing certificates, contact Nancy or the Latah Recovery Community Center.