Though January is already halfway over, I can still hardly believe a new year has started. Normally I love celebrating the new year – I use it as a new start, as a way to take stock and look back on what I like about my life and what areas need improvement. But this year, the transition from 2018 to 2019, just completely passed me by. I kept meaning to make resolutions or new yearly goals, or at least look back on the past year – and I meant to do this, and I meant to do this, and somehow it always slipped my mind and I never actually got around to it at all. In fact, on the 31st, I didn’t even notice when midnight came. So I feel a little… lost. Or maybe lost is too strong, but I don’t feel like I got off on a great foot.
So I want to change that.
For 2019, my word of the year is:
PRESENT
I want to be there and aware, enjoying my life. I have a bad habit sometimes of thinking how I wish things could be, or how things might be one day if I work hard enough. And I still want to have those goals, but I don’t want to take the time I have right now for granted. I’m a big believer in making the best of what you have, and even if things are a little messy for me right now, I’m still very, very lucky. My daughter’s going to be turning one this year, and I don’t want to miss a moment of this precious time when she’s still so small. My husband and I are happy and things in our relationship are going very well. I’m doing well in my career (I’m a librarian), and I have a lot of big plans for the next step in that journey, too. So I’m going to be “present.” I’m going to treat the time I have like a “present.” (See what I did there? Choosing a word with versatility.)
What’s your word for the year, if you have one? How are you going to apply it to your life?
As 2018 drew to a close, I spent a lot of time thinking about how I wanted the next year to go. That was a big – really big! – year for me, and while I wouldn’t have had it any other way, after all the dust settled so to speak it left me feeling a little… lost.
Now that I’ve achieved so many of my goals (had a baby, finished my master’s degree, my husband and I bought a house), where do I go from here? Especially in my career – which don’t get me wrong, I love – I’m feeling stuck. I know I could, and should, make new goals, but suddenly everything I might like to do seems unattainable. After a great year and a lot of hard work, I’m doubting myself. Am I really capable? Can I really meet and set new goals?
My word for 2019 is “Present” and while I don’t have any resolutions exactly – misleading title of the post, I’m afraid! – I do want to try to be intentional this year, and focus on being present in my life, enjoying the here and now. So while I do feel like I need more long term goals, I’m not going to stress out about it. I have enough little stressors in life day-to-day, I don’t need to add to that with any sort of existential crisis! I think having a few smaller goals will help me feel less adrift. By “resolving” – see what I did there? – to set and work towards a few reasonable goals, I think it will help me feel more focused and get back on track. I don’t expect 2019 to be as big and exciting as 2018 – not unless I have another baby, and I’m not ready for that right now! – but that’s okay. It’s still a new year, and a new chance to push myself out of my comfort zone a little. That’s part of why I started this blog. To try something new! Start a new adventure! I love writing, and blogging is something I feel like I would enjoy that would also be a sustainable interest for me.
My other goals for this year are:
-Improve my photography Taking pictures is something I really enjoy doing, but I’m ashamed to say I’ve never put as much work into it as I should. I want nice, high quality pictures and this year I’m really going to buckle down and learn as much as I can and really work hard to improve my skills. You can follow along with me here, and on my instagram! As I said, I’m an amateur – I mean like extreme amateur here – but I’m planning to work really, really hard to get better! I only have an iPhone now, but if I can keep up the hard work I’d like to invest in a high quality camera.
-Build a portfolio for freelance writing Already, I think I’m going to really enjoy blogging. I have a personal book blog I update occasionally, but I wouldn’t call myself a “blogger.” Though I’m a 9-5 mom working outside the home (I’m a librarian, and I love it), I have seriously considered trying remote work to stay at home with my daughter. It would mean sacrificing my current career, so I don’t want to take a big leap yet, but it’s something to think about. I do love writing, though, and even if I never believed I could make a career out of it I’ve wanted to be a writer. I’ll be writing here as well as contributing to a few library-related publications, and I’m hoping to maybe guest post a few places and maybe pitch a story or article somewhere. This is going to be slow going, I’m sure, but again – I’m willing to work hard!
-Learn a new language I have a friend who’s a speech pathologist who has pushed me to play music in foreign languages for my daughter since she was born. I’m already a fan of KPOP anyway, so that was certainly no hardship. I made a playlist of music to play for her, and I’ve been enjoying it a lot myself. It made me super self-aware, though, that I couldn’t understand anything that any of the artists were singing about. I decided that I’d like to learn a new language. I’m using DuoLingo mostly, though I’ve considered trying Rosetta Stone (though the cost can be… kinda prohibitive). Also, I listen to a lot of Disney music in Spanish. I don’t know what they’re saying most of the time, but I know the songs well enough to get the gist. Anyone have any tips for a native English speaker trying to learn Spanish? I’ll let you know how I’m doing!
Those are my three new goals – or “resolutions” – for this year. I’m sure I’ll have more as time passes, but I feel like that’s a manageable amount to accomplish, and three is a nice number.
What are your resolutions for the year? Trying anything new and exciting? Let me know!
