I’ve never been very good at the New Year’s Resolution thing in the past – big surprise. Still, it wasn’t for lack of trying. I would come up with impressive lists of impressive resolutions that I was going to accomplish. By the end of the year, my life would be perfect.
My biggest mistake every year was actually saving these lists of resolutions, and then groaning in pain at the end of December, seeing how many actually fell by the wayside. I just need better resolutions, I would say, and out came the new list for the coming year.
2009 is rapidly approaching now. Never again, I say.
This year, there’s only one item on my resolution list. One thing to think about. Concentration is power, and this year, I’m a laser.
In 2009, my resolution is to go diva, inside and out.
Wait, you say. You can’t. The year 2009 economy is in a downward spiral. People are losing their jobs. There are wars in foreign lands and poverty and lack. We have to cut back and be sensible.
It seems to me that this resolution, especially in a year like 2009, is the only truly sensible thing left to do. The people who lived during the Depression got it. What did they do? They went to the movies in record numbers. They invented radio. It was the last thing you’d expect at a time like that, but a sense of escapism is useful sometimes. All fighting problems and no feather boas make for a dull, grey, non-diva life.
I’m going to have a 2009 full of diva escapism, without apology. Good-bye, control-top stockings. Goodbye, shapeless baggy sweaters. Hello high heels and Chanel No. 5.
Let me share with you the first five steps I’ll be taking on my way to diva-ninity in 2009.
*My resolution involves renouncing harmful perfectionism
I am now officially perfect. Even the things wrong with me are exactly the way they should be right now, and I like everything about me. What self-respecting diva would feel otherwise? I am Maya Angelou’s “Phenomenal Woman”, even if I bite my nails or forget things sometimes or carry a few extra pounds more than I should.
*My resolution involves gathering the Diva Board of Directors.
Everyone needs role models. I have mine. My role models include other famous divas throughout history – strong women (Eleanor Roosevelt), smart women (Michelle Obama), beautiful and confident women (Susan Sarandon, Annie Lennox), women who were kind (Princess Diana), who did their own thing even when it wasn’t what everyone else did (Katherine Hepburn). There are outrageous, sexy, fun women (Cleopatra, Sophia Loren, and Goldie Hawn). There are women who did the right thing, even when it was hard (Mother Teresa, my mother). This is only a small sampling of my Diva Board. They’ll be in my head in 2009 to inspire me daily long after resolution time has passed.
*My resolution requires being as pretty as I can be
Pretty is now a priority. Just because I’m not Beyonce doesn’t mean that I don’t have anything worth working with. Even a barn looks better painted. I can be strong. I can be soft. I can have integrity. I can figure out how to wear makeup and do hair and stuff, better than I do now. This one’s for my girls as much as it is for me; for my little divas-in-training.
*My resolution requires no fear
I’m going to do new things on purpose. I’m going to make some tremendous mistakes on purpose. I’ll probably get lost, but then I’m always found again. Not stupid, hazardous stuff; I have a brain after all, but divas take risks with style. That’s what they’re so universally admired. Doing something new in 2009 is definitely a diva-do.
*My resolution involves daily heaping helpings of laughter
Life has sadness. Life has drama. Sadness and drama have to be dealt with. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t moments of happiness and laughter in that drama, and that’s what the diva goes for. Like a ninja, I will find those moments of laughter and happiness within each day of 2009. I will watch funny TV and movies. I will read the funny cards in the bookstore. I will laugh without apology.
I dare you to join me. Join me on the glitter side of the Force, and together we will rule the universe as divas and divos. I’m going to make 2009 a diva year never to be forgotten.
