*This essay was written in January 2013.
The New Year is upon us, and I can't possibly be left behind without a new year's resolution. Can I?
How about going Paleo for a month? Dedicating myself to CrossFit? Or maybe I should do a cleanse. (Nah, just joking.) I thought about it. I considered it. I talked to friends. So here it goes.
I am going on a diet.
No, not Paleo. It's a new diet, actually. Totally experimental. "Solo"-specific. It's called "I-eat-what-I-want-diet".
Seriously.
No, wait. Before you roll your eyes, and tell me that it's easy and that you've been on this diet for a while, and that this diet responsible for the spare tire around your waist (or thighs, or whatever), hear me out.
It's not easy. Being told what to do is easy. Being told what to eat (and what not to eat) is easy. Any dogmatic approach is easy by definition. It takes out the hard part. The thinking. The listening. The feeling.
In psychological research, tolerance for ambiguity, the ability to perceive information in a neutral and open way, is positively correlated with intelligence, creativity, and resilience.
Black-and-white thinking is, on the other hand, is associated with conservative and authoritarian personality. Fat is bad! All carbs are bad! True story.
Every year has a theme, a focus, a word. You can't really force the theme. It emerges, appears, comes naturally, like a pet name.
The word for 2011 was "explore". I took that one to heart. I traveled India for six months. I joined a mountaineering expedition to Himalayas, summiting three peaks while being in the mountains for the first time in my life. I rode a motorcycle. I bungee jumped and skydived. . 2011 was a transformational year. I wandered. I experienced. I discovered.
The word for 2012 was "create". I created new, functional relationships. I created my first home. I created this blog. To create the space, I consumed less. Less junk, less processed foods, less wheat. Less information, less media, less music. I spent more time by myself. I discovered my inner introvert (I have one, I swear). I wrote more. I got stronger and healthier. I became an athlete. 2012 was a transformational year. Yet there was a lot of structure in 2012. A lot of rigidity. My diet, my training, my schedule.
The word for 2013 is "trust". Trust my intuition, trust my choices, trust my body. So I'm not doing Paleo. Maybe one day.
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