Creative & Intellectual Resolutions for 2025

My (Hopefully) Realistic Reading, Writing, and Learning Goals

The long, slow days of Christmas have passed. Rest has been won and drunk to the dregs, and now, as the new year looms ahead, it is time to wake up and march onward into the promises and challenges of tomorrow. The turning of the year always causes a stir in my heart, a sensation of both sorrow and hope. I mourn for the lost years which cannot be lived again, and I look forward to the new years with their promises of continued joy and new beauty and darling surprises and successes, which I can now only dream of. Of course, the future does not just fall into our laps. We must seize it and make something of it, which is why, in the final days of each year, I transcribe my goals and aspirations for the new. These I would like to share with you today. May you draw inspiration and encouragement from them, and may God bless you richly in all your endeavours in the coming year.

Lifestyle Resolutions

1. Build a paper life!

   • Prioritize hand-writing and minimize electronic usage.

   • Always be paper-crafting!

   • Take notebooks everywhere.

2. Make space for silence and the freedom of boredom.

   • Set aside one hour per day to sit (in quiet) and think, process, pray, and create.

3. Create a balanced exercise schedule to combat stationary intellectual activities.

   • Pick activities that are enjoyable, not dread-inducing.

Learning Resolutions

1. Learn basic, readable Latin!

   • A necessary skill in the world of classical education.

2. Study art and obtain a basic knowledge of art history.

   • Be able to distinguish between a Rembrandt and a Vermeer.

3. Make memorization a priority.

   • Memorizing Scripture and poetry is good for your mind and satisfying for your soul.

“Some people carry with them entire collections of Renaissance-era masterworks by Rembrandt and Vermeer. Others can close their eyes and revisit the Impressionists of Paris: Monet, Manet, and Bazille. For others still, line after line of Scripture or Shakespeare effortlessly unfold from the recesses of memories dating back to when they were children catechizing or strutting and fretting their first hours upon the stage.” (Russ Ramsey, Rembrandt is in the Wind: Learning to Love Art Through the Eyes of Faith).

Reading Resolutions

1. Diversify authors, styles, and time periods.

   • Read Shakespeare, Montgomery, Tolkien, Alcott, Chesterton, etc.

   • Read poems, plays, short stories, non-fiction, and novels.

2. Keep a reading journal consistently.

3. Read every day for personal enjoyment.

   • Read beyond assigned readings and teaching curriculum.

4. Read big works aloud.

   • Paradise Lost, The Aeneid, The Divine Comedy, etc.

5. Reread favourite classics.

   • Looking at you Little Women and Emily of New Moon.

Writing Resolutions

1. Write another full-length novel.

   • No big deal.

2. Write, illustrate, and publish a children’s story.

   • Thank goodness for my brilliant artist friend, Chiara.

3. Write a poem per day.

   • A few lines. That’s all. By the end of the year there’ll have to be something worthwhile.

4. Submit work to publications and pursue a literary agent.

   • The only way to receive recognition as a serious writer.

   • Good practice in accepting rejection.

5. Make a personal anthology to share and shelf.

6. Be more consistent on SubStack!

7. Start a literary society with fellow readers and writers.

   • Connect with like-minded locals.

That’s all for now. Blessed New Year, everyone!