I started to write a year-end post, then got involved with doing a bunch of housework and never got around to finishing it–so, instead, here’s a year-beginning post.

It’s going to be short because it’s almost 11 PM and I’m tired. I have too many thoughts about 2020 to hash out in a single post, anyway.

Instead, this post serves basically one purpose: setting an intention.

I’m not a maker of “resolutions”–but last year I set an intention: Don’t Overcommit.

Curiously, although I still managed, at times, to pack more onto my plate than I perhaps ought to have done, I did pack much less onto my plate than I otherwise might have even in the midst of a global pandemic.

It wasn’t magic–it was just a kind of mindfulness thing. An opportunity would come up, and I’d remember this intention to not overcommit, and it made me pause for a second instead of diving headlong into absolutely every single thing like I usually do.

So that was really useful, and I’m glad I did it.

Anyway. Last year’s intention was influenced by the growing knowledge that I needed to stop stacking my calendar the way I had been, and I think that’s part of what made it actually work–it was addressing something that had already begun to surface in my consciousness.

Moreover, it was both concrete and actionable. Or … inactionable?

IDK. It’s weird when the goal you’ve set is to NOT do a thing.

So, basically, that intention became a way of giving myself permission to say, “No,” or at least, “Not this time.” I wasn’t sure I’d actually do it, but I did. Not perfectly, but that’s fine. It’s a learning process.

Anyway. I think last year I hit on a halfway decent formula for a useful intention: concrete, actionable, and already percolating.

So this year’s intention, which will also be a challenge for me, is simple: Ask for help and/or coaching.

One of the best lessons I learned while working on this year’s second Nutcracker is that there are a lot of people who like the idea of helping me become a better dancer, and are very willing to step up and work with me. I just have to ask.

I’m beyond grateful for that community, and also beyond grateful for the weird experience of trying to learn an apparently rather-complex pas de deux in the middle of a global pandemic, because it was the thing that finally made me brave enough to say, “Hey, we could use some coaching, would you be willing?”

I have some specific ballet skills things I want to polish up this year, and I feel much less afraid now to seek out help in reaching those goals.

So that’s my simple intention for this year.

Ask for help.

Just like it’s okay to say no to things, it’s okay to say, “Hey, I’m struggling with this thing, can we find a time to get together and look at it and work on it?”

Obviously, I plan to continue working on the whole Don’t Overcommit thing also, because that makes a huge difference in my life.

So that’s it for now. One fresh intention for a fresh year. Here’s hoping 2021 will bring better things than 2020 (I mean, not to tempt fate, but that wouldn’t really be too difficult in many areas, so even if we set the bar pretty low…).