The theme for this year of The Art of Royaling is: personal resiliency.
Since this project is about making life changes, we need a framework to structure that change. We can’t try to make all the changes at once. Well, we can try! But that never works out too well for me…you? So, I decided to make a yearly theme to help us focus.
The British Monarchy is a resilient system personified by the resiliency of Her Majesty The Queen. The current Sovereign has been on the throne for more than half a century – longer than any prior British monarch — and is still going strong at the age of 94. She never seems to crack and when she makes a misstep she is soon back on track. Her Majesty must at times have doubts and exhaustion, so how does she keep going through difficult times?
Well, I cannot be sure as I have never met her, but several themes keep showing up in my research: duty, faith, mental habits, interpersonal connections, health, and routines.
I have been thinking a lot about resilience these past few months and I suspect I am not alone in my thoughts. When I was younger, I viewed myself as a resilient person. As the years have gone by and life has given me its hits, my view of myself has been changing as I have a harder time recovering from tough times and have more cynical thoughts about life. Am I a resilient person? I am not so sure anymore. And with all the recent upheaval, it seems quite important to be a resilient person to be able to cope, thrive, and have energy to help make the world a better place to live.
So, for the rest of the year, The Art of Royaling will explore each of these themes, how each contributes to the Queen’s well-being and endurance, so she can continue her leadership, philanthropy, and vision, providing an example we can learn to apply to our own lives to increase our own resiliency.
If it sounds a bit serious and daunting, well, I suspect having fun may also be a key component for a resilient life, so we will be exploring amusement throughout the themes.
