I think it’s healthy to do some inner housekeeping and improve habits, I just wish resolutions didn’t come with a side of shame. I’m naturally suspicious of trends and resist doing things just because scads of other people do them. I’ve never been into New Year’s resolutions. Between bouts of fear, I finally had time to think about the new year and all the opportunities ahead. They took corners like NASCAR drivers and I feared for the lives of pedestrians weaving toward their cars. Drivers zoomed in and out of parking spaces with the nonchalance of stuntmen. For thirty minutes I watched the parking lot bustle with activity. I grabbed my latte and went to sit outside in the sunshine. It struck me as odd, for a room to be so full but so devoid of life. People were sharing tables but no one was talking, making eye-contact, or smiling.
As I waited for my coffee, I noticed that every single person filling the twenty-odd tables had some kind of screen in front of them. I ended up at the largest Starbucks I’ve ever seen and bought a latte. So yesterday I took my Sabbath and went out exploring with no particular agenda. It’s been 11 days of constant motion, packing and unpacking, traffic, goodbyes and hellos. In the past two weeks I’ve moved away from Hawaii, celebrated Christmas in Phoenix, bought a car and moved to California.
