I ask that you patiently indulge me as I muse about one of my favorite musicals - Sunday in the Park with George, lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim. It’s a beautiful, critically acclaimed show that opened on Broadway in 1984, starring legends Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters. I was fortunate to be in college in New York City at the time and used my brand new credit card to charge my ticket (it most likely took me months to pay that off).
The story is inspired by the French pointillist painter Georges Seurat's painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (the painting hangs at the Art Institute in Chicago). The plot revolves around George, a fictionalized version of Seurat. And because he gets caught up in the artistic expression and creation of his paintings, he ignores others around him.
The final hushed line of the musical has always been pretty powerful for me:
A blank page or canvas… His favorite… So many possibilities.
This moves me each and every time I hear it. What it says to me is that our lives are a blank page and we, for the most part, can be the author or artist of our own creation. And what is even sweeter about this line are the two words in the middle – “His favorite” and how that elicits excitement, wonder, eagerness.
I think of this at the start of every new year and the juncture of every major change. We have an opportunity in front of us!
We associate the start of a new year with the ideal time to make positive changes in our lives. We design resolutions and believe we have limitless conviction to achieve them. Too quickly, though, we lose steam and are exactly where we were at the start with a bit more frustration.
So how can we be more successful this year? What can we do with the blank canvas rising before us?
Let’s start by being slow, steady and mindful. And tomorrow, let’s do that again.
I know that slow, steady and mindful seems counterproductive and not very exciting. We have changes to make and now is the time to do it! I am suggesting though that we approach the goals we have set by taking one purposeful step at a time.
A Facebook post I recently saw resonated with this attitude: “Look at your daily habits and ask yourself if they are causing you to evolve or revolve. Are you moving forward, or just moving in circles?”
Are you confusing busy with productive? Are you just in perpetual motion and getting little accomplished? What can you do daily to move towards a goal? Maybe you want to go to school, maybe you want to be healthier and perhaps you want to get along better with a coworker. What daily habit can you evolve in order to move towards that goal?
Some of our daily habits keep us in our same old routine. We complain that we can’t get ahead at work, but we aren’t looking into what course work can give us a better chance at a promotion.
We judge when we don’t see eye-to-eye with a colleague, yet we fail to remain curious and assume positive intent.
We feel frustrated when we don’t lose weight, but we make poor food choices.
Are we evolving or revolving? Are we recognizing the possibilities on the blank canvas right in front of us?
Every day we have the responsibility of controlling our thoughts, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors. What we do with that responsibility will bring us closer to or farther away from our goals.
I invite you to see the beauty in that responsibility. What can you do today, just today, to create a better picture for your life? What thought, attitude, belief or behavior will bring you closer to creating the life you want? What can you do today to make the way easier for those around you?
Remember — slow, steady and mindful. And tomorrow, do that again.
If you would like support to learn ways to add color and purpose to your blank page or canvas, give the Methodist Healthcare EAP a call at 901-683-5658 to schedule a free, confidential appointment.
For the last ten years, I have had the awesome responsibility and privilege of being on the team here at Methodist Healthcare Employee Assistance Program. Together, every day, we have created endless possibility with the canvas set before us. As I move from this role on a new journey, I am mindful that what comes next is possible because of the people, the lessons, the support and opportunities I received at this amazing place. With gratitude for all you have given me …and for the endless possibilities.
Donna DiClementi, LCSW, CEAP
Director, Methodist Healthcare Employee Assistance Program
Donna DiClementi is the outgoing Director of Methodist Healthcare Employee Assistance Program and Community Behavioral Health and this is her final EAP Enews. Together with an awesome team, she has grown the EAP to cover over 100,000 lives in the Mid South (www.methodisteapcanhelp.org), started the Dennis H. Jones Living Well Network which connects people to behavioral health resources, advocates for mental health care and provides education and advocacy about behavioral health to the community (www.thelivingwellnetwork.org). She is really proud of the accomplishments of her team and will always be grateful she called Memphis home for ten years.