Deux mille vingt

Some friends of mine like to set a theme for the new year, and I'm going to borrow the idea to provide an organizing principle for my resolutions: the theme of follow through.

In kendo (and other Japanese martial arts), there is a concept called zanshin, which means “continuing mind”. After executing a strike, you do not relax; you remain alert, continue moving, establish distance, and turn around to face your opponent again, in case they have survived to counterattack.

In my case, the issue starts a bit earlier: metaphorically, I raise the sword but don't commit to the strike. Not a fatal error in the course of my daily life, but I would like to stop simply making goals and plans then doing nothing about them.

So for 2020, don't start something new without finishing something first. Also, make good on the (implicit and explicit) commitments made already.

For example:

• I bought a Hobonichi five-year diary this year for the purpose of noting down things I would like to remember about my children. (I've entirely failed to do any documentation until now, other than photos and the occasional tweet.) A purchase being an implicit commitment, I will write something daily about each child, no matter how brief.
• I'm putting my foot down: I will not buy another notebook or bottle of ink until I fill up a notebook or empty a bottle of ink. (Pre-emptive exemption for the Musubi Tomo system, which will come out later this year. I'm…unlikely to actually finish a notebook in time for that release.)
• Since I have (1) started this blog and (2) linked to it publicly, I will update it semi-regularly instead of abandoning it. Haven't defined what “semi-regularly” means. Once a week? Two times a month? Also includes coding the two small associated projects I have in mind: automated sending of new posts via email (for cross-posting to Dreamwidth) and my take on a kudos button (because intrinsic motivation be damned, I need my pellets!).