a declaration of more

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Since tis the season for making outlandish declarations in the name of purity and wholesomeness and the new year I thought I'd share a resolute promises and a mini-manifesto of my own.

This time every year I hear people talk of less less less. Less has become quite fashionable in recent years, whether through the minimalist decor that blights our cosy cluttered homes (and if you're as messy and cynical as I am check out Unhappy Hipsters), the post-recession hangover, the economic downsizing and sacrifice of material possessions in search of some mystical goodlife and in the bizarrely hopeful yet always unrealistic new years resolution. Perhaps it is the wake of post-christmas chocolate orange comedown that ignites cries of 'less less less'. In the face of overindulgence less can seem positively, ironically... welcoming. But I am reminded of Samuel Beckett who said that "probably nothing in the world arouses more false hopes than the first four hours of a diet". And he is right, because no matter how good and pure and holy we might want to feel, the truth is most resolutions are the half-baked utterings of too much midnight champagne and are out of the window come January 13th. And this failure I attribute to the very nature of those resolutions we make. The fact that they are all about denying yourself pleasures be they calorific, lazy or mind-numbing pleasures. The less less less culture aims to remove those pleasures cruelly making them all the more appealing, leaving you staring down the wrong end of a weekend spent with good wine, bad TV and eighteen too many Quality Street.

And so this leads me to my own resolution: a declaration of more. More of the things that I love, more time with family, more opporunities to paint my lips red, more creating, more GIFTS, more stretching, more long walks in the countryside. More of the things that are good for me, and more opportunities to smile. So friends, I implore you, throw down your shackles of less and start saying yes. Slip on your prettiest heels, pop another cork, enjoy another slice of pie and start saying yes to more!