According to a study by the University of Scranton, 45% of Americans make New Year's resolutions for the following year. Of those 45%, only 8% actually keep their resolutions. To put that in perspective, less than one in twenty people both make and keep a New Year's resolution.

I wonder, then, if that's enough to justify not making New Year's resolution. After all, there's no reason resolutions have to be made on the cusp of January 1st, still softened by left-over Christmas cheer and buzzed on midnight champagne as New Year's Rockin' Eve plays out in the background.

So here I am, over a week ahead of schedule, forging through the first of my New Year's resolutions for this year, in spite of the fact that it's highly unlikely I'll keep them. But there's something to be said of at least attempting the implausible.

Young Woman Writing (Jeune femme écrivant), Pierre Bonnard (1908) The first, and a main reason I began this blog, is to write. I'm hoping to start going out of my way to start writing - to write more - to write for myself. My academic writing is up to par, but there's a lack of upward improvement as I've generally come to a standstill. Along with that, I haven't really had an opportunity to do personal writing, or develop a voice. Maybe I won't get better than I am now, but as long as I'm writing - anything, really - I'm happy.

2001: A Space Odyssey

Equally important, I have a major deficit to correct. As a budding art historian, my complete lack of knowledge on major films of the 20th century is awfully… lacking? I didn't even finish 2001: A Space Odyssey when I last started watching it. In the weeks following, I'm hoping to compose a definitive list that I'll leisurely make my way through, come 2016. I mean, just look at those aesthetics. That in itself is enough reason to commit to this.

The last is probably one that makes those "top ten resolutions" list, the kind that contribute to those 92% of unfulfilled resolutions. Maybe it's just carpe diem, maybe I want to make a profound effort towards embracing those who enrich my life and letting go of those who hinder it, maybe I just want to make the post of what I have in front of. That doesn't sound like a bad idea to me. 'Til next time.