Here's a New Years thought that clarified in my mind today, after having worked it over for the past several years:

In an attempt to achieve relaxation in this modern world of being over-taxed, over-stimulated with our cell phones, internet, satellite TV, and lack of vacation time, it is easy to pursue isolation as the key to peace. We look to turn inward, into ourselves, to fix, manipulate and "get a grip" on our habits.

But we are social creations, it is wired into our Being. In the present age we still wrestle with the leftover Victorian idea of conquering our anxieties through will power . This concept of will power is largely impotent, however.

It reflects only one isolated aspect of our selves, namely a rational, cognitive demand we place upon our selves. It is destined to fail. New Years resolutions are destined to fail, with will power.

Instead, we need to pursue the concepts of Intentionality , and place our focus on Commitment . I read an article earlier this year by an Existential author who writes about Will & Anxiety, not a new article, but overlooked. He offers a view of anxiety as "Willing what cannot be willed."

Commitment, intentionality are much more powerful, because they remove us from the inward existence and into broader frameworks. Commitment usually involves others , in relation to ourselves. Even when we commit to ourselves, the very term implies the unification of our Being, including the rational, irrational, logical, and illogical, prelogical, spiritual, and physical. It is more of an Ontological basis for changing our Bearings in life, as we seek to change our ways of being, our ways of Bodying forth in a more healthy manner. Intentionality is likewise a much deeper concept than will. It combines conscious and unconscious, and implies a turning of our Being, instead of the white-knuckled manipulation of life involved in Willing.

Intentionality and Commitment also refer to the uniting of ourselves in time. Our past, present and future united. Will ignores these finer points, and comes out of left-field with its promise of reforming our ways. They act like existential anchors, so to speak, in freeing us from the dizziness of freedom.

In conclusion, I seek to pursue Commitment in 2007. Commitment to others, to myself, to art. I have found its power to make life manageable and fulfilling, to ease the feeling of being pulled in a million different directions in the modern world.

Best wishes for a peaceful, abundant, health-filled, and fulfilling 2007!