The seemingly impossible has happened, and 2020 is over at last.
Our 2020 New Year Revolutions ran up against a lot of unforeseen obstacles, but this year, we’re really excited to take the positive energy of the New Year and turn them into fresh revolutions for 2021.
We’d love to recreate the support pods from last year, so we can hold each other accountable and provide support, encouragement, and celebration all year long. To do that, however, we need to know what everyone’s revolutions are!
If you’ve got long or short-term goals for 2021, share them here and we’ll do our best to organize them into support pods throughout the week! For reference, last year we had creativity, physical & wellness, and personal improvement pods, but the sky’s the limit! It’s a new year! We’d love to expand and remodel these pods as needed to fit all of our changed priorities (self-care, anyone?) so let us know!!
Cook more, because my attempts at meal prepping have been mostly “make one meal and eat it all week” which can be very hit or miss.
Leave the house at least once a day, because sadly my apartment is not really conducive to indoor workouts, but a bundled-up walk around the block is a much-needed way to move, and I never regret doing it (as much as I don’t want to get off the couch most of the time).
Journal more! I definitely have phases where I journal more often than not, but 2020 didn’t really feel much worth recording, so I fell out of the habit. Hoping to manifest some better energy by keeping in a regular writing groove and hoping the consistency translates into some of my other writing projects as well!
My affirmation word/theme for 2021 is Focus. As much as working from home most days has been awesome, I’ve learned that my anxiety brain really needs a structure to the day. So I have a foundational goal that I’m hoping will support my other plans:
Get up at the same time every day. I’ve chosen 7am to start, with the aim of pushing it earlier eventually. I’m a genetically un-morning person so this has been a lifelong struggle, but I’m tired of rushed work day mornings and always feeling short on time. So instead of thinking about it as “uuugh I have to get up”, I’m thinking of it as gifting time to myself.
And in theory this will support other things:
Finish a draft of my book! I always want to do this, and I’ve yet to succeed which is pretty rough on the self-confidence to be honest.
Knit more critters! I discovered that I really like making knitted animals more than knitted wear, and I was gifted a whole pattern book of woodland creatures that I’m so excited to make! There’s a badger!!
Learn local plants and wildlife, which will also get me outside more. I want to know what trees I’m looking at!
I’m definitely still puzzling out some creative goals, but I think I’ve got some more fundamental goals ready:
Figure out a home fitness routine - I should still have some amount of Zoom dance rehearsals, but I’d like to find some small-space-friendly workouts to add and a routine for taking walks.
Get over some sleep issues - When I started grad school a few years ago, I dove straight in after I finished a busy, stressful, sleepless senior year of undergrad, so I never developed a “healthy sleep schedule”. I was doing sort of okay for a while, but since about July it’s gotten a lot worse. I’d like to try to beat that this year.
Self care - This hit pretty low on my priority list for most of the last year, and I burned out real bad. So re-acquainting myself with self care is a must
Journaling - I used to journal every day, but I fell off some time in 2018 or 2019. I tried to start again last year, removing the pressure of “every day” but I didn’t last very long past April. So trying again.
Edit: Updating with some creative goals
Design and fabricate a guild coat!
Finalize design for and construct at least one larger, multi-component costume build
Work on breaking projects into smaller pieces and incorporating more small amounts of creativity into daily routine
Revisit old skills - latch-hook rugwork, maybe soap-making?
Choose one or two new crafty skills - punch needle? basket weaving?
A while back, maybe 2013 or so, I started using Danielle Laporte’s Desire Map to guide my New Year’s reflections. Basically, the idea is to spend some serious time thinking about how you want to feel (on a deep level), and then work out what makes you feel that way in several different areas of life. Then go do it.
I sort of let this slip at the beginning of 2020, so I revisited it a few days ago and decided that I want to feel: Bold, Limitless, Inspired, Magical, Powerful, Incandescent, and Exquisite. (With the bonus that I can remember all of them because they spell BLIMPIE.)
What am I going to do to feel that way? Well, writ large, I’m going to publish, start a local coven, and reduce my body fat.
And what will I do to achieve those aims? All sorts of fiddly stuff, but the idea is to have all of those little tasks coincide with those ways I want to feel.
So the big thing I want to do this year is move out of my parents’ house. My ability to afford that depends on outside factors (for now I can only wait) but in the meantime I want to learn to recognize toxic behaviors in myself and my family, and (on a more fun note) hoard kitchen supplies for my future apartment.
As for things I can start now, I need to work on my body image. I gained weight over the holidays, and (thanks to my meds) I will likely not be able to lose it again any time soon, so I need to learn to accept my body as it is.
I also fell off the exercise train so I want to get back into it, but I want to go at it with a healthier mindset this time.
I’m resolving to not make any new resolutions this year. Hear me out. On January 1st, a pretty major job change that’s been about two years in the making was finally realized. Along with this comes new space to settle into, new additional staff to meet, and new software platforms to learn. The world we live in is already so different than what we’re used to. We’re learning, as a family every day, how our boys are going to be educated (remotely for now). The world will change again once the vaccine is fully brought to the public.
My world is so different already, and it’s only been the new year for 6 days. I’m going to spend my new year holding on to the things that got me through last year. Strong, positive friendships. Journaling. Improving my health and sublimating my anxious energy through physical exercise. Professional counseling. I’m resolving to keep all these things the same as my world continues to change dramatically around me.
some form of exercise each day (currently eyeing up darebee reboot/30 days of yoga)
out the house walk at least once a week
finish combing the fleece I got, ready for eventually spinning or maybe learn felting?
complete 2 active knitting projects and 3 planned projects
read more - target 24 (52 didn’t work last yr)
bake more
work on some stockpile meal prep (I welcome any freezable slow cooker recipes ideally with reviews for fresh and post freezing, I’ve not had much success with flavours of the latter)
Well… kind of? Two weeks goes really fast when you work for 13 days of it. I can at least function in the space, and my room is somewhat organized? But I wouldn’t want to show off the living room/kitchen. Definitely a work in progress, but also not feeling completely unmanageable.
Definitely a work in progress, but also not feeling completely unmanageable.