(Late) New Year's Resolutions
Updated: Feb 3
Year after year as things come to a close I am reminded that I am a New Year's resolutions girly. There is just something about the year ending and looking forward into the next that makes me feel so... motivated? I mean it is motivation, yes, but also it's like, this compulsion to be motivated, it that makes sense. Especially this year for some reason, like the feeling was actually palpable, this bubbling urge inside me compelling me to set goals, almost against my will. And I know how this sounds- obviously it's not a unique feeling to be motivated and set goals at the beginning of a new year. "New year, new me"- that's kinda it's whole thing. But I feel conflicted about it because you can literally set goals at any point, new year or not, and yet for me when it is the new year it's like my brain tells me I'm finally allowed to slow down for a second and be introspective on a large scale; take stock of the last 365+ days. The pros, the cons. Areas that need improvement. Sometimes it doesn't feel like a choice, more like the-time-has-come type shit. Not that setting goals is a bad thing by any means, and I enjoy doing it. But also maybe I'm undiagnosed with something yknow? Who's to say~*~* <3
My other minor beef with resolutions is the fact that it's so consumerist. Sometimes you set a goal that results in you buying something to support said goal only for it all to be a complete waste of money. Please don't talk to me about my 2019-2020 Erin Condren day planner. That shit was expensive and I did not use it. But I think over time as you understand yourself and your habits better, you become better at setting goals for yourself as well. You can hopefully weed out the ones that you know deep in your heart are essentially just retail therapy.
ANYWAY, all this preamble is to say- I set some freaking goals for 2026!!!!!!!!!!!! xD xD And I think their realistic while also not being to challenging or anything :) As weird of a ritual as it is for me, I'm pretty excited about my resolutions this year!
Read consistently. Goal of reading 6-8 books for 2026.
Growing up my mom, sister and I were all big readers. Visits to the library were very very common. But the habit of reading has been on and off for me in my adulthood. For example, in 2021 I read 30 books. By and large the most amount of books I have ever read in a year, literally in my whole life. But then, last year in 2025 I........ read one book lmao. So safe to say it's been inconsistent.
The idea here is to build back the habit of reading consistently, and always having a book I'm reading on the go. I said to myself I'd like to read at least 6-8 books this year, but it's not really about the amount of books I read, more that I'm just always doing it, even if I'm doing it slowly. Hence the low goal. Because listen, I may have only read one book last year but I know for a fact I can read 6-8. So I'll hit my minimum, and exceed it possibly by quite a bit, but again it's not about the number, so I'm certainly not aiming for 30 books again this time around or anything. I just love reading and love stories, and it's good for your brain so it's a healthy and fun habit to build overall.
The trickiest part about setting this goal is figuring out how I was actually going to execute it sustainably. Since I was going from not reading any books at all to wanting to read consistently pretty much forever, I first thought about when in my actual day I would find myself reading. For me, this ended up being during breakfast. I never skip breakfast, and usually watch a youtube video or something while I eat, and figured I could easily replace that with a book. But the other issue was that I might need both my hands to eat breakfast, making it unintuitive to also hold and flip through a novel. SO, I ended up getting an e-reader. And at first I hesitated because, going back to my earlier point about new year's resolutions being consumerist, I wondered if this was just me trying to find an excuse to buy a shiny new e-reader, but when I thought about it more, it really felt like the most sustainable way for me to read while I eat. And I ended up finding a kobo clara colour on facebook marketplace for cheaper than regular price, so that sold me on it. At least I got it secondhand.
Now, it's the end of January 2026 and I rent all my books on my kobo and just prop it up when I read in the morning while eating breaky, and not to be dramatic but it's kind of a godtier set up. Like what a simple yet beautiful thing to read a book in the morning while you sip your coffee. I'm actually already on my third book this year!
Handmake all (or most) of the gifts I give this year.
Ok I promise I will not yap as long for this one. It's pretty cut and dry- as an artist there's no reason I can't be making cute, stuff for the people I love as gifts!!! Well there are a few reasons, namely that I always feel busy (even when I'm not), and so buying gifts is just easier. BUT, this year I want to try to make it a priority to make and create gifts for my loved ones because I think it's within my capabilities and is way more personal and meaningful. When I receive a gift that someone has handmade for me, mannn. That shit just fills my heart with love, truly.
I had a little stint in December where I was making a bunch of felt ornaments, and that was really what inspired me to set this goal. I made a few of these little guys, and every time I finished one I'd feel so proud and astonished that it was so easy to make something so cute and original from scratch. Why not give them as gifts!!?
When I say "handmade" I mean truly anything. Maybe I'll draw something, or felt something, make something out of clay or even bake something. Anything's fair game as long as I've made it myself, with love.
WRITE MORE ON MY FREAKING BLOG!!!!!
;_; it's true!! For ages, and I literally mean AGES, I have been meaning to make this blog more of a common place for me. I hope going forward to treat it hella casually, literally like an online journal where I write about whatever I want to. And the posts can be long, short, whatever I'm feeling at the time. No rules, just writing and creating on my own website.
I'm aiming for one blog post a month. Again, this is very doable and I could probably exceed this, but I want to set the bar low. I've thought about writing some casual book and movie reviews. Not that I know shit about shit (I'm not the authority on what is a good or bad book/movie, I just love yapping). I'm going on a vacation soon, so I might talk about that. Anything really! I just hope to do it more.
But yeeeea I mean that's it for now! Three humble goals. I'll revisit them and see how I fared later on. I know 2026 has been pretty bleak in the grand scheme of things, but I'm wishing everyone the best for this year and going forward! From me to you, please take care of yourself and do your best <3 ok kisses love you bye xoxoxoo
