Rosebud 2023: A New Years Resolution Plan

A few years ago I began a New Years Resolution Plan called Rosebud. I heard about it on one of the travel podcasts that I follow. The process essentially looks like this:
Step 1: List Three Roses-
This is the stuff that I would consider the greatest strengths, successes or accomplishments of the past year, the stuff that has managed to blossom into a Rose.
Step 2: List One Thorn
This would reflect my greatest personal struggle of the past year.
Step 3: List Three Buds
Based on my “thorn”, this is a list of what I would like to “bud” into potential Roses in the coming year.
Step 4: Come up with a word for the year
This should be a single word that can help reflect the direction I want to head in the coming year, a single word that can give my year a theme or a recognizable focus and narrative.

So, why Rosebud?
I have been asked in the past, why three Roses but only one Thorn? Most of us don’t realize it, but it is often much more diffciult to come up with roses than it is thorns. Also difficult is learning how to speak about thorns in a way that imagines forward movement, seeing it in light of one’s potential for growth. It’s kind of like that old piece of advice that says when you are in an interview for a new job and they ask you about your weaknesses, always give a weakness that you can do something about.

The great part of the Rosebud system is that it allows one to document their struggles and their growth year by year as a kind of working and interactive diary. You can build on the previous year and form an ongoing narrative out of the successes, struggles and hopes. This is not about resolutions persay, at least not in the traditional sense, it is about making space for introspection and observation and forming that into perspective and potential. And it allows one to not just make goals, but to examine what those goals are actual about, the why of our goals.
With that in mind…

A Look Back at Rosebud 2023:

My Three Roses:

1. Commit time to our dog Buddy and help him with some of his struggles

2. Continue to have the necessary hard conversations

3. Seek a greater imagination for how I can and need to reprioritize my life towars the things that matter

My One Thorn: Failed Potential

My Three Buds:

1. Jump start my writing project again

2. Establish further physical and online community

3. Travel to England

My Word For The Year: Imagination

A Reflection on Rosebud 2023:

A Look Ahead to Rosebud 2024

My Three Roses:

1. Made some memories

If reprioritizing my life was a thing in 2023, it involved getting out there and doing things again. Memories from this time last year includeed a spontaneous trip to Minneapolis to see my favorite movie brought to life on the stage (The Little Prince), along with having one of the best new years eve outings in a long while. I also managed to get out to our local theater to see a few stage productions over the course of the year, and celebrated the 25th anniversary of the movie Elf in style with the Winnipeg Symphany Orchestra, while also celebrating the anniversary of Switchfoot’s The Beautiful Letdown by travelling to see them in Birmingham, Alabama. While the final quarter of the year managed to fizzle out in terms of ambition, there certainly was some movement there in terms of breaking out of a funk and finding a spark of life.

2. Took some risks

Took some risks in giving more. I also took a big risk this past summer in doing a solo trip down south through Alabama and across to Savannah and Charleston, before coming back up through the smokey mountains. It was the first time I had ever travelled by myself, and I made it into a pilgrimage, including celebrating the anniversary of Switchfoot’s The Beautiful Letdown and traversing the footsteps of Martin Luther King while reading his new biography. Perhaps this makes up for my failure to get to England, something that I feel is a must at some point in my life. There still needs to be more risks taken in terms of building community.

3. Made some progress on my writing

It wasn’t a lot of progress, but it was some. A lifelong process I’m sure, but one I’m still pressing. Part of a desire, and maybe even a need to put my memories into story.

My One Thorn: Failure to navigate

There is a bit of irony, or perhaps some poetic resonance, to how 2023 started and how it ended. It started off in the light of having faced some hard conversations in the hope of healing and reconciliation. The year has ended with a need to have some hard conversation and make some hard, life defining decisions. It also involves taking some risks, something that I did over the course of 2023. Where one finds successs, one also finds their shortcomings, I suppose.

My Three Buds:

1. Figure out my hard conversations and make some hard choices

This is the number one thing I need to figure out heading into 2023, and therre is a lot to figure out relating to potential transitions and new opportunities.

2. Celebrate our 20th anniversary

Yes, we are headed into our 20th year. And this is something that can be a bit specific, at least in my imagination. Good friends are celebrating their 25th in Toronto, and we have plans to join them in their celebration. Given the important of New York City to the story of our marriage, we also have plans to continue the journey, this time hopefully crossing off the maritime states as well.

3. Invest in my local community

This one is simple. I’ve got a desire to figure out the needs of my local community. My plan is to connect with my MP and get some insight into the major needs, concerns, opportunities. Make a list, see what fits, andNew go from there.

My Word For the Year: Intention