Peacock Resolutions

Twenty twenty-five is such a great number.

Check this out: (20 + 25)² = 2025!

And if that doesn’t convince you: (0 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9)² = 2025.¹

Clearly we’re living squarely in auspicious times.²

I’ve had a New Years Resolution strategy for the past few years that has worked really well. It started with a question: Why January 1st? It seems so arbitrary. If there’s something you want to achieve or a habit you want to start, why wait?

So that’s what I’ve been doing. Reflecting on the year past, planning for the year ahead, and starting on my “resolutions” mid-December. It’s nice to be a little ahead of the game once everybody else joins come January.

Plus, you free yourself from the low success-rate commonly associated with New Years Resolutions. Nobody is measuring the viability of mid-December commitments – for all I know it’s 99%!

A mid-December commitment might be closer to one supposed medieval origin of the New Years Resolution. According to legend (popularised by Les Voeux du paon), knights would take “The Vow of the Peacock” during the week leading up to Christmas, by placing their hand on a roasted peacock and making a commitment to chivalry.

I found this 1954 thesis on Les Voeux du paon written by Brother Camillus Casey, which summarises the vow.

On his way to Babylon, Alexander comes to the assistance of Cassamus and his nephews and niece, whose city of Epheson is being besieged by Clarus. Porrus, one of Clarus’ sons who has been taken prisoner, shoots down a peacock. The peacock is roasted and served at a banquet at which all the guests vow to perform some noble deed.

So, here are my Peacock Resolutions, inspired by the square nature of 2,025.

Practice 4 instruments, 4 times a week.

I’m a mediocre musician at best, but I love to play. I’m trying to practice piano, guitar, bass guitar, drums, and clarinet. I’ve already got courses and books, and I’m hoping to start in-person piano lessons when the school term begins. When it comes to music, I’d like to call myself a jack-of-all-instruments, master-of-none. But even that takes practice.

Publish 1,024 words every week.

My children love writing, especially Eli. It’s inspired me to be a more active writer. Most of those words will be on this blog, but some might be written for other publications.

Reach a 1,024 day Italian learning streak on Duolingo.

As of this writing, my streak is 896, so this shouldn’t be too hard. More difficult will be my secondary goal of completing the Italian course.

Read 25 books.

This is way down on the 52 books I read in 2022, but that was pretty intense. I read 25 books in 2024, so this will be challenging but achievable.

Those are my goals. Some people prefer themes for the year.

I had a few scotches and a game of chess last night with a close friend of mine. One of the many things our conversation included was how people best learn. We decided that learning should be approached with curiosity, respect, and a little touch of ambivalence. Those are my themes for the year.

• Curiosity as an anti-aging remedy; it’s like stretching every morning but for your mind.
• Respect for the time and effort of your teachers, peers, and students.
• Ambivalence, remaining open to multiple valences, a willingness not-to-know, embracing uncertainty. Maybe even a little indifference.

I wonder if that’s chivalrous enough for those fourteenth century knights!