It’s New Years Eve which means that it is a day of reflecting on how one’s year went. I’m going to take this moment to give some personal reflection to the year I’ve had and will be attempting to avoid lumping in general things that happened in the US / the world this year.
In 2016 I:
- Was brought on as a Full-Time employee at work –yay for no longer being a contractor! My first year pushed me quite a bit and this year was definitely no exception but I’m excited to continue pushing myself more in the new year.
- Renewed my Passport! This was for a work related trip but it’s inspired me to really make use of it over the next few years.
- Traveled to two different countries! As I mentioned above I renewed my passport for a work related trip that took me to Galway, Ireland and Cologne, Germany. Both trips were short but eye opening and I hope to travel to those locations again for a longer stay next time.
- Had a variety of hair colors this year including: Green, Silver, Magenta, Mermaid Blue, Purple, Periwinkle + Aquamarine Ombre, and then back to purple which leads me to…
- Went back to purple FOR-EV-ER. I have a tendency to change my hair color on a whim and while I really enjoyed playing around with different colors I’ve found that purple is just my go-to color (also clearly my hair loves it because that picture was taken at week 6 and my hair is just as vibrant as ever 😀
- Started cross stitching again. I’ve remembered just how therapeutic cross stitching can be and it has allowed me to spend more time being creative and less time on the computer.
- Started a personal cross stitching challenge: Stitch the Pokedex! I wanted to really push myself to follow through on a personal project and so far I am doing well and I’m even starting to work on turning these into charms.
- Invested in myself. This was a hard one for me to do because I normally put my wants and needs on the backburner but I’m really happy that I this year I decided to take the leap and invest in me. I purchased many things this year to really help me in my goal to be more creative in 2017.
My biggest regret in 2016 was:
- Not drawing more. I’ve let myself become scared to work on art pieces for fear of “ruining” them. I’ve also let myself spend too much time comparing myself to other artists and trying to do things the way they do instead of doing things my way.
I didn’t really set aside New Years Resolutions last year…if I did they are lost in the void but for 2017 I would like to:
- Create more art pieces! I really want to push myself to create more art and to just let myself get lost in the creative process. I also really want to become more skilled with traditional media and to stop being afraid of messing up a piece.
- Complete one art piece a month to have 12 art pieces in total by end of year using ONLY traditional media.
- Stop comparing myself to others. I am not you, I am me and that is okay.
- Save $3k. While I did invest in myself this past year with upgrades to really fuel my creative work in 2017 I want to take this new year to actually save (I’ve already started doing that by using Digit and it’s working out wonderfully so far!)
- Open my online shop. I’ve spent that last few years making every kind of excuse to not sell my work and to not create original pieces. This new year that stops. This new year I open my shop and I start creating pieces I enjoy and that I hope will resonate with someone.
- Workout more. Exercise just didn’t happen this year and I definitely can feel that my body is just not happy with me. I want to take the time to push myself to be healthier, though I know that will be a slow journey for me (thanks migraines) but its time I took care of the only body I have.
- Complete the first 151 (including any mega evolutions) pokemon cross stitches by Dec 31, 2017.
- Read at least 25 books by Dec 31, 2017. I purchased a LOT of books this year but I didn’t take any moments to really read them so I have a big backlog to get through.
- Make and post at least 52 videos (1 a week) on my youtube channel. I’ve really neglected my youtube channel but I have plenty of things I want to make for it but I just need to actually take the time to do it.
- Go out more. I don’t mean trips to Disneyland, I mean actually exploring the area where I live. Get out of the house. Hang out with friends I haven’t seen or talked to in a while.
- Spend less time on social media. I’d love to get that time back to focus in on projects that will provide me with fulfillment rather than getting sucked into the void of social media.
- Write and post at least 52 blogs (1 a week) by Dec 31, 2017.
2016 has been one hell of a year personally, professionally, and also world wide.
I want to do better for myself and others in 2017 because it’s going to be one hell of a year.
