Learn People Better

Start small and build creative momentum. Write a sentence. Write another. Think about the new year.

Think about baby steps towards the promised land, not impossible self-promises. Number 15 on Woody Guthrie’s 1942 New Year’s Resolution list was “Learn People Better.” I would like to do that. I don’t think I can do that on Facebook. I think it involves meeting friends for a cup of coffee, a hike, a beer. Learn People Better also means staying in one place longer, allowing for silences, having a conversation beyond the barbed wire confines of convention: how are you good how are you good.

Think about electricity and imagination, about laptop screens and those yellow flowers just out the window. Think about the piano behind your back as you type this, the guitar in the corner just dying to write a song. Dying. Every year Amy and I talk about a return to Black Out Nights, evenings where we turn off our computers and phones and even beloved digital music for the rest of the night, inevitably, in a cold sweat, forcing ourselves to talk, to pick up instruments and play, to read, to play games and tell stories.

This year we have promised ourselves again Black Out Nights. How will we sustain our journey towards better selves? How does an idea move beyond idea and become committed, practiced reality? How can we learn our own people selves better and little by little make lasting change in our lives?

Maybe you have to involve other people. Maybe every new year’s resolution should come with a sponsor. Or maybe it’s just as simple as a Google calendar. What if there were not only a weekly listing on your calender but also a Google droid they sent out, a personal trainer, music teacher, or life coach? The doorbell rings and Googleman is there in his sweatsuit. “6 a.m.! Time for our run!” Googleman is at your door with a cup of coffee and a quote to start your day. He leads you back to your desk and says, gently but firmly, “Write! I’ll be back in 30 minutes to hear what you’ve written.” Googleman meets you after work, walks you to the market. He’s got three new recipes for your consideration.

There is an easy budget fix for most of our time management woes. It involves drastic cuts to the techn-minute allotment, allowing us to invest time in art, culture, education. Parents will often require kids to earn “screen time” by reading. What if we put that upon ourselves? You want to spend two hours watching football? Great. Start reading. Want to check Facebook for an hour? Start playing that ukelele.

Start small. Don’t wait for New Year’s Day. Have a dream you’d like to fulfill? Get out the sketch pad now. Reach for the guitar. Start melting the butter. Start spreading the news.

Your brain is circulating wonderful thoughts right now. Around and around they go, just waiting for you to open the gate and send the message shooting down to the hand or foot. Feel that stress in your muscles and bones? It’s simply you, holding back your finer instincts. Take a deep breath and let go.

Happy New Year!