New Years Resolutions – 1/1
Today marks the start of a new year. A fresh beginning, a clean slate, an opportunity to improve ourselves.
I have tons of new goals for this year. Mostly, I would like to make strides in the two careers I am pursuing – the tangible firefighter one, and the surreal writer/screenwriter dream.
It is important to remember than any goal, no matter how impossible it may seem, can be accomplished by taking the appropriate steps. For becoming a firefighter, I must receive an EMT certificate, work as a firefighter, and attend the fire academy during the summer. To become a paid screenwriter, I must attain an agent, win some screenwriting/indy film contests, and expose my work. There are no guarantees for either profession, but I know that if I do everything better than my competitors I will greatly increase my chances of working in a career field that I will enjoy.
But the changes I feel will most dramatically alter my exterior goals are directly related to my own internal shortcomings.
I want to improve my relationships. I have always been introverted, highly self-conscious, extremely impulsive, and blind to social awareness. Furthermore, I’m convinced a life centered around God is necessary to make strides in these areas.
2014 I allowed God to rule my thoughts and understanding, but in 2015 I became much more self-centered. In many ways this was beneficial – becoming more logical helped me to attribute the outcome of things to their proper causes. One line of thought that I believe can lead one along a path to insanity is to think the bad things that occur in our lives are caused by unrelated moral decisions.
Despite this positive intellectual development, I have also come to believe there is a certain magnetism that can only be achieved through the grace of God. This realization makes life much more difficult, as the causation of things appears much less linear.
I am looking forward to taking a logical approach to self-improvement while also recognizing God’s involvement and ultimate direction in my life. I guess this belief can best be explained by comparing it to my understanding of writing.
Structure, devices, plot points, and many other story telling elements are crucial for any work of fiction to appeal to viewers. But emotion – love, hate, and all the degrees in between – cannot be artificially produced, in my experience. These moments must come from the heart of the writer, and there is no superficial way to produce them. Furthermore, a strong intuitive sense is greatly affected by a mindful attitude.
Others may claim you can manipulate the feeling of love for the audience of your work, but I have never been able to effectively express emotion through my characters if I am not immersed in the emotions myself.
One truth I have observed from my fluctuating levels of Spirituality is that the further I am from God, the less meaningful human existence appears to be. The value of friends, family, and even ourselves appears meager in comparison to superficial values such as fame, social status, and wealth. If we do not appreciate the beauty each individual has to offer our lives becomes dry, and our work will inevitably suffer.
I hope to become a more God-centered person during this new year, without sacrificing any intellectual pursuits.
Happy New Year to you all!
Thomas M. Watt
