H A P P Y N E W Y E A R !
I think a lot people are feeling a bit mentally burnt out from last year. I know that while I had a great year personally in 2017, there's this constant undercurrent of all of the horrible things that have been happening in the world. The leader of the free world is a raving man-child, my own country is becoming increasingly divided on whether someone's ethnicity is a factor in whether they count as a human being, and the planet is dying just a little bit more.
But personally 2017 really turned into my year. I left a job I enjoyed with lovely people, but that wasn't fulfilling me, for a postgraduate degree that has reawakened my ambition and drive. I went from being very single and very disenchanted with relationships to coming up to the one year mark with a wonderful person. I moved out of a horrible little flat in a town I had no real affinity for, and am now in a lovely apartment (with a functioning bathroom hooray!) in the gorgeous city of York.
I've become more independent, more politically aware and far more the person I wanted to be at the beginning of this year. It's not been without it's challenges, and of course the ever looming shadow of the collapse of moral society isn't fun, but with 2017 out of the way I'm going to indulge in a little optimistic goal setting.
I've become more independent, more politically aware and far more the person I wanted to be at the beginning of this year. It's not been without it's challenges, and of course the ever looming shadow of the collapse of moral society isn't fun, but with 2017 out of the way I'm going to indulge in a little optimistic goal setting.
WRITE TWO BLOG POSTS A MONTH - I started F L Y N N in July and by the end of August I had nine entries here, but since then have only posted three times! I absolutely love blogging and really want to make it more of a habit, and to see some growth in my readership. My MA is very demanding and I also have a fairly demanding job along with some side hustles, but I feel that twice a month is a do-able goal for blogging in the new year.
READ 80 BOOKS - Last year I didn't set a Goodreads goal and I read thirty books, which is pretty good, but I know I'm capable of reading far more than that. So I've aimed high this year and set a target of eighty. That's roughly a book and a half a week, and between all my academic reading, a renewed love of fast paced fantasy, and the determination to have more quiet time to myself this year, I should crack that goal.
PLAN MY DAYS - So I waste a lot of time. Previously I've always thought that I'm just a bit of a lazy-butt, and that I still get good grades/ accomplish what I want, so why does it matter if I procrastinate and put things off? BUT I recently read this article by The Cut, about how we tend to be self fulfilling prophesies, slaves to the narratives we give ourselves, and how often high achievers can dig their heels in and become lazy and unproductive out of fear of failure, or some deeply hidden belief that they don't deserve to succeed. The article also said that the best way to conquer this is to start acting like the organised, ambitious, productive person we want to be until that becomes our new narrative. So, starting with a planner I was kindly gifted by my boyfriend's brothers, I have decided that each morning I am going to plan my day. No more falling into the twitter void or rewatching the same episodes of Mock The Week that I've seen a hundred times. I mean... I CAN do those things, but if I am, I'm going to plan for them.
PLAN MY DAYS - So I waste a lot of time. Previously I've always thought that I'm just a bit of a lazy-butt, and that I still get good grades/ accomplish what I want, so why does it matter if I procrastinate and put things off? BUT I recently read this article by The Cut, about how we tend to be self fulfilling prophesies, slaves to the narratives we give ourselves, and how often high achievers can dig their heels in and become lazy and unproductive out of fear of failure, or some deeply hidden belief that they don't deserve to succeed. The article also said that the best way to conquer this is to start acting like the organised, ambitious, productive person we want to be until that becomes our new narrative. So, starting with a planner I was kindly gifted by my boyfriend's brothers, I have decided that each morning I am going to plan my day. No more falling into the twitter void or rewatching the same episodes of Mock The Week that I've seen a hundred times. I mean... I CAN do those things, but if I am, I'm going to plan for them.
WITCHY SHIT - I've been interested in modern day witches ever since I accidentally bought a book about it from a Borders bookshop, (that's how long ago it was) when I was about eleven. (I thought it was a teen novel, turned out to be a handbook for young witches and I read it cover to cover, fascinated, several times.) I left that far behind as I grew up, feeling that my firm belief in science and evidence wasn't compatible with the idea that a hunk of rose quartz somehow brings love into your life, or that tarot cards were spooky harbingers of the future. But recently these ideas have resurfaced in my life, and I actually unearthed my old copy of Spellbound at the end of the summer.
While I am still very much a believer in things like 'empirical evidence' and 'logic', I am also coming to understand that while crystals may be inert by themselves, they can be great talismans (like lucky underwear) if meaning is deliberately applied to them. I know that tarot cards aren't only for so called psychics to commune with spirits or demons or the great unknown, but a fun and interesting tool, by which I can pose possibilities to myself, and let random chance make suggestions, and highlight factors of a decision I hadn't thought about.
I've essentially been learning that even if you believe firmly in only the real, and the proven, there is space to let your mind imbue objects and rituals with meaning in order to make them more effective. In the same way that you might paint your nails red to feel brave for a job interview, or stick an encouraging quote to your bathroom mirror to use as a daily mantra. I will probably do a separate post on having witchy leanings, when you are both sceptical and secular, sometime in the new year.
FITNESS AND WELLBEING - After something a little off the beaten path, let's return to the comfortable world of cliche. In 2017 I upped my game with my fitness, I began running (albeit stopping as soon as the weather got chilly), I became far more regular with my yoga practice and have generally begun, slowly, to make my body a fitter, stronger place to be. I want to keep that up in 2018, possibly going back to running, or finding another regular way to raise my heart beat. (Be silent for the obvious sex joke that I'm not going to make here.) I also want to focus just a little more on my mental wellbeing. Journaling, meditation and other forms of emotional self care are all things that I've dabbled with in the last year, but I want to make it a habit. Not necessarily to do them every day, or in a strict routine, but to remember to make use of these things when I'm feeling stressed, or low, and to turn to them first, and not as a last resort if I can't just 'snap out of it'.
So those are my major goals for next year. I'm really looking forward to working on these in the coming year, and feel like this is a year that we can all make the most of. So long as we stop wasting our time yelling at Trump on twitter.
While I am still very much a believer in things like 'empirical evidence' and 'logic', I am also coming to understand that while crystals may be inert by themselves, they can be great talismans (like lucky underwear) if meaning is deliberately applied to them. I know that tarot cards aren't only for so called psychics to commune with spirits or demons or the great unknown, but a fun and interesting tool, by which I can pose possibilities to myself, and let random chance make suggestions, and highlight factors of a decision I hadn't thought about.
I've essentially been learning that even if you believe firmly in only the real, and the proven, there is space to let your mind imbue objects and rituals with meaning in order to make them more effective. In the same way that you might paint your nails red to feel brave for a job interview, or stick an encouraging quote to your bathroom mirror to use as a daily mantra. I will probably do a separate post on having witchy leanings, when you are both sceptical and secular, sometime in the new year.
FITNESS AND WELLBEING - After something a little off the beaten path, let's return to the comfortable world of cliche. In 2017 I upped my game with my fitness, I began running (albeit stopping as soon as the weather got chilly), I became far more regular with my yoga practice and have generally begun, slowly, to make my body a fitter, stronger place to be. I want to keep that up in 2018, possibly going back to running, or finding another regular way to raise my heart beat. (Be silent for the obvious sex joke that I'm not going to make here.) I also want to focus just a little more on my mental wellbeing. Journaling, meditation and other forms of emotional self care are all things that I've dabbled with in the last year, but I want to make it a habit. Not necessarily to do them every day, or in a strict routine, but to remember to make use of these things when I'm feeling stressed, or low, and to turn to them first, and not as a last resort if I can't just 'snap out of it'.
So those are my major goals for next year. I'm really looking forward to working on these in the coming year, and feel like this is a year that we can all make the most of. So long as we stop wasting our time yelling at Trump on twitter.
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