Why wait till January?

People usually wait until January 1st to make resolutions. But, I’m making mine a month and a half before. Why? Because I want to…

I looked back at my post from January and found that I’ve actually been really good about my resolutions. I’m ridiculously amazed, excited, and proud about to be honest. 

I’ve worked on nourishing my body better. I’ve been eating mostly whole foods and, with the help of a good accountability buddy, started making sure I’m not over eating on the decadent stuff. I’ve even started running(?!) which if you know me you know I don’t really like running. I decided in August to start taking my health very seriously, exercising and eating “right.” So, mostly just more veggies because I have never eaten enough veggies…or protein it turns out. I also started None To Run, which has been a great program for me so far even as an asthmatic. I’m not very consistent quite yet, but I’ll get there!

I’ve nourished my creative side as well. My dad’s cousin started a family book club, which mostly is made up of the women of the family. We read a new book every 7 weeks which has definitely expanded my reading genres from what I would personally choose. There have been books I’ve loved and books I’ve hated (like full out couldn’t finish I didn’t like them that much). As much as finishing the books stresses me out sometimes, the book club is definitely very good for me. 

I haven’t been so good at the writing side of things. I still go to my roundtable, and am working loosely on my current novel. But, I have finally figured out the voice of the main character and where I want it to go theme-wise so I’m feeling it! Hopefully I can get my butt in gear and actually finish this thing at some point.

New Goals:

Read More – Less phone time, more books. I’ve spent way too much time on my phone in the past year (blah blah blah, millenials and their social media, blah blah blah). But, I know it’s making a serious dent in my progress toward finishing my novel and reading the books I have on my shelf. There are SO many books I want to read and that I have bought intending to read.

Write More – Finish my draft of what I’m currently working on and then move on to whatever my heart feels most pulled toward (this sounds familiar). Whether it’s short stories, non-fiction, a new novel, anything really. I would love to play with a new “genre” of writing like non-fiction or short-story. Oh, maybe a zine? But, I really need to focus on FINISHING SOMETHING in the coming year. 

Cook More – I want to learn that cooking skill where you can kind of just throw things together and it works. How do you learn that? People keep telling me you just have to cook a bunch, but I think there’s something they’re not telling me. Will report back if I figure out how to learn that skill.

Be Mindful – I have been on a constant journey this past year to listen to myself and not the many voices around me. How do I feel? What do I think? What do I want? I’m finally starting to listen and I’m very happy with where it’s taking me so far. I want to do more of that. Whether it’s starting more consistent exercise, working on a specific creative practice, or developing something I’m working on to be what I want it to be. I’m ready to start doing things the way I want to and stop looking to everybody else for how it’s “supposed to be done.”

So that’s my plan for the year. I’m hoping I can develop this blog into something great in the coming year. But also something more personal. I would like it to be a more personal map of my journey – as a person, as a writer, as a reader, and as a creator. I’ve never been good at journaling, so I’m hoping that building posts around things that truly impact me will work out better.

Here’s to another year of creating great and beautiful things!

Happy Reading!