2015: Looking Forward
5 January 2015
Ok, so I may be a couple days late, but it’s time to think about what I want from this year. A lot of people complain about celebrating New Year, as it’s just another day really, and you can change your life any time you want. While I understand this, I do think New Year is good at making us pause and consider where our life is. We celebrate having made it through another year, then consider what’s coming next. As mentioned here, my resolutions from last year went ok, but I’m not making any this year; rather, I’m just going to discuss goals and what I hope to achieve this year.
Writing – First up, as regular readers may have guessed, writing is very important to me. Last year’s resolution was to blog more, which I did pretty successfully. This year, I want to continue on that streak, and three posts per week seems to be a good routine for me. Beyond that though, I’d like to gain more experience or be published by other organisations. My MuggleNet position is a good start in that respect, but I don’t want to only write about Harry Potter forever. I’m looking out for internships and guest spots and competitions and the like. I’d also like to get back to my fiction sometimes. I’ve had the same novel idea churning away for years now, and have yet to get beyond the first couple of chapters (partially because I keep making changes…).
Health – I know this is a generic resolution, and one that I tried last year, with mixed results, but I do need to get in better shape. I lost a little weight last year, but my fitness is atrocious. I don’t have specific targets for this, but I’m hoping to go out walking more and get back into yoga, and cut down on the amount of pizza and chocolate I’ve been eating lately. I hate exercise, and my weight has never concerned me, but I know that I should be leading a healthier lifestyle.
Reading – This isn’t something I thought would ever be on a list of goals for me. When I was younger I devoured books, and I still have shelves upon shelves full of them. However, in recent years my reading has decline dramatically. Mostly I attribute this to how much reading I have to do for university, which is a hefty load, so when I finish and have time to myself, I don’t want to pick up another book, and instead turn to TV and film, which the internet gives us remarkable access to. However, this year I want to make an effort to read more again in my spare time, particularly once I finish the semester.
Travel – This has been at the forefront of my mind for years now. 2014 was probably my most exciting year for travel so far, and I want to keep that up in 2015. Hopefully I’ll venture outside of Europe this time! So far my only definite plans include a weekend in Copenhagen for my friend’s birthday, but I’m hoping to get more than just that into this year! (I was just researching Central America before sitting down to write this…) I really want to travel a lot now, while I’m young and don’t have relationship or work commitments tying me down. I know I’ll want to settle down one day, but this is certainly not the year for it! I want to adventure and see the world before I get to all of that. And speaking of commitments…
Graduation – Argh, that word has been freaking me out for years, and this year is when it’s actually going to happen. I only have one more semester at university and I’ll be – ugh – graduating this summer. It’s a pretty monumental moment in my life, because up until now I’ve always known what came next, school then university. But now, I have no clue what my life will involve after May. I have a couple of ideas starting to form though… My lack of commitments after May make it an ideal time to travel! I’ve been looking into teaching English abroad, as a way to earn money and see the world at the same time. I don’t want to live abroad forever, and I’m pretty sure I’ll settle back in the UK (with any luck doing a job involving writing!), but a few years travelling and teaching sounds pretty appealing right now. And of course, it would make great material for this blog! No definite plans yet, but fingers crossed…
Opportunities & the Unknown – I want to take more opportunities this year and try new things. Too often in the past I’ve turned things down out of fear or uncertainty, but in the past few years I’ve become more confident and independent, so I think I can push myself into trying more new things now. I especially want to get better at doing things alone, rather than missing out because no one else wants to. I got better at this last year in France, when I didn’t have my friends around to ask to do things with me, but haven’t done so well on this since I’ve been back and actually around my friends again.
Other things I’m looking forward to this year (which you’ll no doubt hear about on here!) include several concerts in the next few months, another family wedding over the summer, the trip to Copenhagen and my 21st birthday. The last months of university are looking pretty busy; it’s the latter half of the year that’s dauntingly empty. I’m kind of excited though. As good as university has been, I’m looking forward to new adventures and challenges. I have no idea where I’ll be this time next year – hopefully travel and writing will feature in somehow! – and that both terrifies and excites me. So while I do have some goals this year, I certainly don’t have much in the way of concrete plans. As always, I’m still just muddling through life!
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