When one year ends….
The start of the new year is one of my favourite times of the year. The idea of a fresh slate, a new beginning; the renewed sense of optimism is cathartic. I get so much pleasure from a good routine, and from setting up my personal goals for the year ahead.
With each new year also comes the opportunity for introspection.
The opportunity to reflect on and learn from from your past makes me feel like anything is possible.
I prefer that concept to learning from your mistakes. It doesn’t make me feel like I was doing things wrong. It’s more about the opportunity to consider what went well last year, what didn’t, what we can improve on and where we want our focus to be in the year ahead. Because let’s be honest – what a year it has been; the highs, the lows, the in-betweens.
And once again, it feels like it all flashed past in the blink of an eye. Certainly the last couple of months did.
While that Type A person in me loves to be busy, ticking off project goals and personal To-Do lists, I can easily become so wrapped up in the planning process and looking forward, that I become guilty of neglecting the here and now.
My goal for this year, and January especially, is to slow the rush.
This year I want to make sure I soak it all up, to fully experience all the feels, and to find little ways to mark the moments before another year passes by in a blur.
No matter how busy life gets, I want to find small opportunities each day that ground me and bring me back to the present. It’s those little things that add up to a year, and life, we won’t forget.
Here are a few on my list:
– While I’m not a coffee or tea drinker, I do love the ritual of a morning beverage at my desk to mark the start of my day. This year I’m embracing my nescafe milk frother, with a side of hot chocolate powder, as my morning indulgence at my desk.
– Use my essential oil diffuser more. It sits on my desk and can unused for days. However when it is working, it creates such a calm and uplifting setting, which boosts my creativity and productivity throughout the day.
– Set aside two days a week to cook with my kids. This is likely to be one week night meal, getting them on prep work, and one weekend meal where we can try something new from scratch. Dinner time is often the most rushed part of our day, as I wrap up work and try to whip something up in 5 minutes flat. This year I’m trying to carve out more time in the evenings to do meal prep and cooking with the kids – no matter how messy it gets!!
– Plant one herb plant and one veggie plant, and actually look after it! It’s a combination of no green thumb and total neglect, that whatever I plant ends up dying. This year I plan to see it through to harvest!
– Start reading books again on a regular basis. You know how it goes, small kids and a growing business leaves you with limited ‘free’ hours in the day. I’m a complete binge reader who can devour a book in 24 hours, so it makes me a little sad that I neglected my love of reading over the last few years. I’ve already kicked this goal off pretty hard, so I’m look forward to spending more time reading this year. Any recommendations, please let me know!
– Use my candles, and appreciate the moment.
– Sit outside and watch the sunset. Too often once the kids have been put to bed I rush back to my desk to carry on working. This year I plan to take advantage of our views and watch the sun set – and not from my desk either!
– And just as important as all this doing, is saving space in my calendar for the being!
Our goal has always been to share something real with our community. To be generous with our skills and knowledge, in whatever form. Something to help you. ,
We have so many big plans this year for our small company too, but looking back we are especially proud of the community we are surrounded by (that’s you!).
Thank you for a great 2022 – for all the likes, follows, shares and comments as we navigated our way through the year.
Looking forward, we can’t wait to share more experiences, big and small, that are peeking up over the horizon. Here’s to more design and adventures in 2023.
Thank you for following along.
Xx