Letter from the Editor, January 2018

Happy New Year!

Most of us approach the New Year in celebration. Full of optimism, we adopt mantras, like ‘new year, new me.’ Looking back on our mistakes, failures and missed opportunities of the outgoing, we promise to enter the incoming year with eyes and arms open to whatever good is on our horizon.

Sure, I have made mistakes this past year—foul-ups galore. But, as I cast my retrospective gaze on the past 365 days, I also see successes. With a team of hardworking, positive people, and the support of an eager community, we launched a magazine that promotes art and philanthropy. I am proud of this publication and grateful for my community’s support. Still, as with all endeavors, we have room to grow. Growth, of course, takes time, is incremental. Slowly but surely we strive to do a little better each day.

Fewer than half of Americans commit to a New Years Resolution, and of those who do, almost none follow through for the full year. Regular gym-goers know this; for the next few months, resolutioners will queue for exercise machines, and the lines will dwindle with each passing week. Resolutions are hard, especially when we make radical commitments. Goals implemented incrementally are the ones most likely to bare fruit. Slowly but surely. Still, resolutions persist; the gym is full of optimists.

I have always been among the 42 percent of Americans who never make a resolution. I’m a single parent trying to build a business; I just want to keep up with the laundry. Yet I admire resolutioners. Their optimism inspires. As this magazine was founded in a mood of optimism, as we use this space and our articles to advance the common good, I find myself grappling with my cynical attitude toward New Years resolutions and my optimistic comportment toward my community. My own self is as much my community’s as it is my own. We strive to improve ourselves for our own sake and for the sake of those around us. I’m going to join the 17 percent of Americans who infrequently make a resolution, and give New Years resolutions a whirl. New year, new me.

So I’ll become a vegetarian.

Let me temper this resolution a bit. I may be going whole hog, but I’m not a radical. For the month of January, without sacrificing my usual patronage of local businesses (except Burt’s Butcher Shoppe, an excellent place I will dearly miss), I will eschew pork, chicken, beef and fish. If it was sentient, I’ll not eat it, however delicious the dish.

This is not where I proselytize for vegetarianism. Truthfully, I don’t have strong feelings either way, but I am curious. I want to conduct an experiment this January. I want to know if I will lose weight, have more energy. I am also curious about being a vegetarian in Columbus. I know many vegetarians who seem satisfied with their choice, but I want to know by my own experience. I want to rework my weekly menu and grocery shop. And I really want to go out with friends and explore the vegetarian options at our many excellent local restaurants.

Whether or not I will be a better person at the end of the month for having been a vegetarian, I cannot predict, but I do imagine that just by making the commitment, by selecting a manageable goal and sticking to it, I will have improved myself.

In February, I will let you know the outcome of my New Years resolution adventure. In the meantime, if you’re working on a New Years resolution, good luck. If you’re not, I understand; we all have laundry to keep up with.

Thank you for reading,

Tom Ingram

Editor