New Year’s Resolution: Scaling Back

At the end of last year, we asked for your creative resolutions for 2015. We’ve created a Facebook group for all our listeners to track their progress through the year, and we are also following four people including a calligrapherin Washington State; areggae DJin Ohio; and an aspiring director and screenwriterin New York.

Join our”Creative New Year’s Resolutioners”Facebookgroup

Charis Styles, from California, resolved to make one diorama every monthduring 2015. So far, she’s mostly on track. With three completed dioramas, she has found an emerging theme: Christianity. “I grew up Southern Baptist,” Stiles tells Kurt Andersen. “I no longer identify with any religion, and I find this work is turning into a therapeutic process for me to work through the not-so-positive messages I received as a kid in my faith.” But her dioramas are less blasphemous than playful, filled with colorful glass beads, sparkly pipe cleaners, and plenty of glitter.

At the beginning of the year, Stiles had ambitions to try more than just building dioramas: she wanted to try making her own boxes. But with a new job and health problems, Stiles is putting those plans on hold for a bit. Even with those setbacks, she is still on track for her May diorama — a Christmas manger scene that she has already started to bedeck with glitter.

A full view of my March diorama

Stiles finished her April diorama early

Do you support journalism that strengthens our democracy?

At The World, we believe strongly that human-centered journalism is at the heart of an informed public and a strong democracy. We see democracy and journalism as two sides of the same coin. If you care about one, it is imperative to care about the other.

Every day, our nonprofit newsroom seeks to inform and empower listeners and hold the powerful accountable. Neither would be possible without the support of listeners like you. If you believe in our work, will you give today? We need your help now more than ever!