This is coming to everyone a couple of days late. To tell the truth, I had already posted something along these lines on my personal tumblr account, but this is going to be my more official one. Since writing that tiny, personal tumblr article, I’ve been brainstorming what exactly I want to accomplish in 2017. Perhaps we all can agree that 2016 was not so great. When talking with my friends and family, I discovered that 2016 has been a tough year for us all. Perhaps it will only get worse from here on out due to many factors, but I’d prefer to stay positive rather than give into negativity.
Last year, on this exact date, I started this blog. As you can tell, I haven’t posted very much over the years. My goal was essentially to gain back my own literacy and love of reading and writing by reading one book each month and following it up with a quick review of my experience with it. I started off fairly strong, but fizzled out a bit after a few books, mostly because of school again, partly because of work. However, I still very much intend to keep at it.
I’m now in Washington, like I said I would be, and I’ve been here for roughly seven months. I have full-time hours at my current job (which, honestly, is not one of my passions in life; the job, not the hours), but in the mean time I’ve really been trying to get back on my feet with this whole literacy thing again. I partook in Booktubeathon where I read three of the seven books I chose, one book each day, and then fizzled out. I also participated in NaNoWriMo, wrote more than the quota every day for seven days, and then fizzled out, finishing with a total ten days of writing and more than half of my book being completed. I did not participate in the end of the year Booktubeathon, not because I didn’t want to. I didn’t do it because I was KonMari-ing my whole house.
I have successfully gotten rid of half of the clothes that were in my closet and in my drawers, decided to donate about 1/3 of my books, cleaned out this little room in my house that had been used for storage until now and converted it into my mini-office, and sorted through all of my writing files. Still to do is my Komono items–the miscellaneous stuff–which could take a bit longer since I go back to work starting tomorrow. As for all those sentimental items, I know that I’m supposed to go through those last, according to her method, but I figure I can just decide right then in there as I cross it whether the sentiment is enough to keep it or not. I try not to get stuck on things anyway.
Now all that’s left is donating my clothes and books, recycling all those files, and finding places for everything to live. As for my new year goals, here they are:
Daily Goals:
- Exercise for 30-60 minutes.
- Drink 12 oz of H2O.
- Put $1 into savings.
- Read for 1 hour.
- Do the dishes.
- Put away all laundry.
- Write for 1-2 hours.
- Write ideas for blog/youtube.
- Do 1 hr or complete one Passion Project.
Weekly Goals:
- Clean one section of the house.
- Read one book.
- Post 1 blog article/youtube video.
- Write at least 1 chapter.
- Have at least one Passion Project completed.
Monthly Goals:
- Create better wellness habits (tidiness, health, sleep, etc.)
- Gather favs and make monthly fav videos.
- Improve basic skills (writing, reading, etc.) through constant writing and reading.
- Keep house clutter free and clean; declutter and clean anything left at the end of the month.
- Have $30-31 saved by end of month.
Year Goals:
- Read and review a minimum of 12 books.
- Have 1 novel completely written.
- Possibly begin editing novel.
- If writing and editing is completed, send in drafts of novel or figure way to self-publish.
- Be healthier and stronger overall.
- Improve creativity through passion projects.
- Have a constantly clutter-free and clean home.
Most people create resolutions (that can also be goals) each year. Some of them are just to better themselves, some of them are to pursue activities that they want to do. When I changed the word “resolution” to “goals” it somehow clarified for me the things I really wanted to work on for myself. In essence, I want to be healthier, stronger, more creative, more financially stable, clean, and successful in my creative endeavors. I want to regain my literacy and my love of words, devouring them and forming them.
Since moving to Washington, I have become a more positive person overall. Truthfully, my job and aspects of my home life really drag me down and do their best to set me back to my negative mindset; the weather, the greenery, the calmness of this town I’m in now, it all makes me happier. There’s this weird little balance between the two that didn’t exist for me in California. Overall, I’m already happier than I was before, even though I dearly miss my friends, family, and pets back home. If I could find a way to make these two planes of happiness exist in one space, then there would be nothing negative left. The overall goal of the year is to be happy. I’ve struggled for so long with depression and anxiety and all I want to do is be happy and love myself, pursue the things that interest me most and bring joy to my life.
Even if 2017 ends up becoming a worse year than 2016 was, I am determined to make it a good year for myself if for no one else. It’s easy to fall into the black pits of negative thinking and it’s a real struggle to remain positive and happy when everything and everyone around you seems to be against your own happiness. But I am my only true friend and enemy. I can decide for myself what kind of life I’m going to have, what I deem successful, acceptable, happy. I’m ranting now, but that is my ultimate goal for this year: to be happy.
Bookends Review 