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New Year’s Resolutions have always been a bit of a joke in our family. As teenagers, there was a kind of competition to see who would break theirs last, and generally by February, most had fallen by the wayside. As we get older, the dawning of New Year tends to see a reset of some kind. Traditionally that’s taken the form of losing weight, becoming more active, or maybe being more involved in community projects. We joined a gym once, each damaging ourselves within the first month, so that didn’t happen again. While resets are important, there’s also something of a tragedy to them, in that they signal we haven’t been doing what we should have been doing for rather too long!
I have two resolutions for 2026. Each is easily achieved. First, I’m calling time on one-way communication. Ironically, since I decided to do that, two-way communication has significantly improved, so there’s hope yet. That decision may seem a little brutal to some, but I grew up in an age where people would write letters to each other. There would be a to-ing and fro-ing, a slower exchange of ideas. The anticipation of receiving a physical letter through the post has long since left us. We would post them in a post box and wait for a reply by the same method. We couldn’t amend words or sentences as we could before sending an email, and letter writing is therefore a much honest and probably more meaningful way to communicate. These days, our post box is full of unwanted advertising guff, and standardised letters to cover the respective arses of directors of multinational companies. Then we recycle them, because those companies care so much about our planet they send their massively irrelevant arse-covering missives on recycled paper. The world has lost its senses.
Whenever we send a letter, it goes to a physical address. Unless someone within the postal system finds the time amid the billions of letters to hand copy or photograph names and addresses passing rapidly beneath their eyes, there’s little danger of addresses being copied to databases, or appropriated for even more sinister reasons. Online security has too long been on of life’s myths, and can no longer be guaranteed. Banks and government departments, NHS Trusts, airports, multinational manufacturers and retailers have all been the subject of major data breaches in recent years. If they can’t guarantee data security, then how can we mere mortals be expected to do the same?
I’m also out of handwriting practise. A handwritten letter is even more honest than its typed equivalent. It feels like a piece of me going to whoever receives it. Letters, words and sentences crafted by my own hand in shapes that come from my brain. Handwriting also helps to keep my fingers working, which then helps muscle strength when playing an instrument. Yesterday, I tracked a new version of an older song. It’s 8 minutes long, and I just about managed to track my cittern playing first take, to time, and without a break. My fingers were painful by the time I’d finished, and while age and arthritis play their part, I know that the more we use our bodies the better they will generally be. So there will be some handwriting this year too, and I can re-engage with the Marion Richardson style I was taught at Primary School!
The second resolution is to bring my many recording projects to a conclusion, unless they’re already scheduled for 2027. Last year was incredibly frustrating for a variety of reasons, each affecting my ability to create. This year looks clearer. So paused projects will happen, and I have a newfound enthusiasm for the newer ones. Probably the biggest challenge I’ll face is how to achieve an appropriate amount of attention for each. Marketing anything has become something of a transient process: what works this month might not work next month. Attention spans and memories are almost non-existent. So I’m trying different approaches for each project, which is sending my creative efforts into entirely new territory.
I hope you all have a happy, healthy, and fun year ahead, and may your resolutions last beyond February!
Peace.
John