I am a sucker for New Year’s resolutions. Every year, I tell myself that resolutions are statistically doomed to fail, that there’s no reason to wait until January to try something new and that consistent work is more effective than sweeping annual declarations. And yet. There’s something so seductive about those “new year, new you” pieces on the morning shows that I can easily find myself contemplating a couch-to-marathon running plan — even though I don’t run and don’t want to!
On the other hand, I don’t appreciate the implication that the “old me” needs a drastic overhaul. Sure, like most people, I could use less screen time and more flossing, but overall, I don’t think you and I need renovation resolutions.
To honor the spirit of the season without discounting the terrific person you already are, we decided to offer some simple-but-interesting activities to help you while away the winter (Page 104). The best part is, if you do just one, you can consider yourself a resolution statistic-beating success — but I think you’ll be inspired and keep going.
One item that’s not on the list but probably should be is getting a checkup. A lot of us skipped them during the pandemic and haven’t gotten back in the habit. In our R•Health section, Martha Steger shares a checklist for your next checkup: how to prepare, what to ask and what to expect when you go back to the doctor (Page 42).
And there’s so much more. We spent a day with Lucas Fritz, a co-owner of The Broadberry, the winter arts scene is in full swing, we have suggestions for Super Bowl snacks, we visit a couple of new stores, we hear about improvements at the VMFA, Maymont, and (possibly) Southside Speedway, we go behind the scenes of a new documentary, and an activist tells us enough is enough.
Finally, we’ve had some staff changes here at the magazine. I’d like to welcome Mark Newton, our new news editor, and congratulate longtime staffer Nicole Cohen, who has been promoted to lifestyle editor, taking over for Tharon Giddens, who will move to the copy editor-at-large role. We’re bidding a fond farewell to Chad Anderson, who is heading off to do new things. He’s made significant contributions to the magazine over the years, and we’ll miss him.
We look forward to hearing what you’re doing in the new year. Follow us on social media or send us an email — we’d love to hear from you.
