Why You Should Make February Resolutions

I didn't make any New Year's Resolutions, for many reasons.

I think trying to give up stuff just once a year is a bit silly, but then I'm a cynic. I think they just add an extra layer of stress and self-expectation. New Year is a holiday - it's for eating tasty things and having the time to watch a whole movie at once, and going for little walks just so you don't wind up too fat as a result of the eating and movies. It's for seeing people you like. I'm concentrating enough on not swearing too much in front of my mother to try and remember to do or not do a new thing I've just come up with. Besides, I live in Scotland, where we are expected to see in the new year with such frivolity and excess that we get nationally get two days off to recover.

In this instance another of my reasons was that I was in the middle of something that wouldn't have made it had I been putting new rules in to force.

So I'm having February Resolutions, but don't worry, I won't be taking them very seriously. I drew you a picture of them though.

Here it is.

6. Plan ahead. Scan stuff at work. Less of this take a photo of a picture nonsense. 

And I will explain them all in trusty bullet-pointy fashion. Skip the first one if you're tight on time.

• Number One: Stop getting talked in to doing stuff that I don't want to. A few years ago I took some tests and became partially qualified to teach Scottish Country Dancing for the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society.

Really Quite Stuffy, Since 1923.

Now I quite like Scottish Country Dancing, and I grew up in the world of the RSCDS - I understand it's secret language and unwritten rules. To the uninitiated, it's the most intimidating seemingly judgemental beast of an organisation. I was lucky in that I was aware of the existence of the world outside, and indeed of the world of those who danced out-with the safety of the society, and thus I escaped with a handful of social skills in tact.

I left home, and discovered that students can form there own clubs, and play fast and loose with a traditional dance form. They succeed where mass organisation fails, and manage to inject some life in to  a folk art. For years now I've been teaching SCD to students, using only small snippets of the stuff that got me a certificate. 

In about September I was asked if I wanted to do the second stage of this certificate. I should have said no. I tried to resist but eventually said ok under the unrelenting pressure of a single quite scary individual with good intentions firmly at heart. This was my mistake and I won't repeat it. The whole process has taken more of my time, energy and spirit than I would ever have wanted to allow it. In such a way I feel a little like I've been taken for a ride. One of the problems is that we're out to pass a test, and the rules and structures that will get one a pass are absolutely no good in the real world. A World where out to teach people how to dance, and that it is a fun and worthwhile hobby. I wouldn't teach the way I'm having to pretend to, and I don't agree I should have to. However my efforts at standing up for this are tempered by my desire for an easy life, and so we never really get anywhere. 

In the fullness of healing time I may find that I care enough to put together some decent critical feedback on the whole qualification process and it's strengths and flaws. Chiefly, you've got good interests, yes there needs to be a standard ... but ... the process us unnecessarily complex, awkward, time-intensive and hopelessly outdated. It is not founded on any modern research of good sports or dance teaching method outside of the organisation, it is not accredited by a a bigger reputable outside body, and it is wholly inaccessible for those not familiar with the RSCDS. 

I'll be finished by about teatime on Saturday 26th January. Hence the need for these resolutions to be a February thing. Rant over... Number one - be less of a pushover.

• Number Two: Dance Any Old Way I Like. One of favourite tame ceilidh bands like to occasionally just play a set of tunes, and the floor's still there, go do your funky thing. Now once upon a time, I would have disapproved of such a waste of good dance time, no doubt through a fear of not-knowing-what-everyone-ought-to-do-next. Now, I join in, and dance like the awkward uncoordinated thing that I am, with a big cheesy grin. On Hogmanay I even did this with my parents in the room. This is a big achievement. 

Not me here, but by way of something to aim for...

• Number Three: Go Swimming. This I have started. I am averaging one swim a week in the pool I have free access to (perks of the job!) so far, although this is mostly due to a spurt of enthusiasm last week having bought a pair of goggles. I need to keep it up - I like having arm muscles. 

• Number Four: Give the Tent a Workout. I bought half a tent back in October, and feel like I ought to have blogged about it only to find that I haven't. Terribly remiss of me. Here it is in action.

Isn't it pretty.

Having spent a reasonable but fairly large sum of money on it, I now need to gain value for that money. I also (and this'll be the tricky bit for me) want to manage some of this planned camping without resorting to hire cars. Here's hoping.

• Number Five: Do More Chillin'. This new job, although desk-based and sedentary, is still knackering me. Then I fill my weekends with FUN as though I need to fit in as much of the things I'd choose to do if I could to get me through another five days of needing to earn a living. I'd like a bit more balance. Frankly I just need more energy and stamina, but failing that, remembering that it's sometimes ok to have a quiet day will do me well. 

Off-topic. 

Finally a note to those who pay attention. I promised a post about my Christmas Jumper. It performed well, as you can sort of see here. I will tell you how I made it at some point. Honest, guv.

Tiny Little Pompom. 

No footnotes for you. Toodles