Resolutions

I am always tempted to make resolutions the week after Christmas. It is natural, I think, as the old year draws to a close and you buy a new calendar, to sum things up, reflect on what you have achieved, and think about what lies ahead. Also, there is the hangover from the gluttony, food-related and otherwise, of December, and the long, dark winter. I long for water, natural hunger, sunlight, a warm breeze.

This year, I am thinking about buying more elk and reindeer meat; I like the idea of eating animals that have enjoyed a natural lifestyle. I am also thinking about making more hot vegetable- and fruit dishes. The husband wants to eat more fish; I am fine with that as long as I don´t have to eat salmon all the time. I am thinking about less sugar (and eating home-made, chocolate-covered cindertoffee as I write this). He says, more hours in the gym. I say, I want to see more concerts and theatre. And shopping, do we really need to do that ever again? We probably own more clothes now than our grandparents did in their lifetime. Local produce, wholefood, ecological, it´s a no-brainer, really. The trick is just getting out of the rut and establish new patterns of behaviour.

I just watched a programme on television about the climate change and now I feel terribly bad about planning to fly to England this summer. However, I have wanted for years to take the freight vessel from Gothenburg to Immingham, so perhaps that is what we should do, and at least halve our flying. I know, those planes will still fly whether I´m on them or not, but if everyone wanted to go by boat, wouldn´t they start the ferry traffic again? Whatever I do it seems useless against the horrid pollution suffered by inhabitants of places like Beijing, the melting glaciers, and the rising temperatures. And the thought creeps up on me that neither democracy nor capitalism seems able to solve this particular problem...

..but I shake it off and focus on organizing my desk and my wardrobe. And I make the firm resolution to read one Alice Munro short story a week for the entirety of 2014. Last year, I felt that I was at the end of something old and stale; this year, I feel like I am at the beginning of something new, something I can´t really grasp yet. It´s a good feeling and I am quite eager to begin.

A Happy New Year to you all!