It’s December, which means I am extremely done with the current year and already obsessed with how much better next year is going to be. As such, I decided to share my New Year’s Resolutions for 2025:
Continue reading “New Year’s Resolutions 2025”
On this episode, I walk through my daily affirmation writing process and how it helps me a) orient my mindset for the day and b) envision and work toward big-picture goals.
Resources mentioned on this episode:
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Change is hard. In this episode, I explore five ways to make it easier, and the resources that have helped me get more comfortable navigating change.
Discussed on this episode:
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In this episode, I talk about how developing consistent, daily habits has changed my life for the better. I cover:
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Find the episode on all podcast platforms here.
I try to do Dry January every year, but last year I extended it to mid March and discovered that I was able to completely skip over my usual Seasonal Affective Disorder. I’d like this to be become my new annual tradition.
Bonus that even moderate alcohol use causes brain damage, and the only way to reverse it is through 2-6 months of total sobriety (source: Huberman Lab podcast).
I use Headspace but whatever you’ll stick with is good. This is the first time meditation has felt easy for me. I’m only doing 5 minutes a day to start and will work my way up. Walking meditation counts!
Working on a friendship bracelet, making alcohol-ink art, posting something on Instagram—even the smallest creative tasks count. The other night I made a lanyard while watching The Mentalist.
I injured myself six weeks ago and am just getting back into my daily workout classes. When I don’t feel up to a class, I take a walk outside
I use one for daily affirmation writing + general thoughts and reflection (a Muji notebook that costs like $3.50; have used and replaced this for years) and another for goal setting (the Lavendaire Artist of Life Workbook—this is the third year I’ve bought this)
This usually takes a lot of energy for me, but I find that when I’m not drinking alcohol my life feels slower and quieter and therefore more restful, so I have more social energy for people outside of my inner circle.
It’s December, which means I am extremely done with the current year and already obsessed with how much better next year is going to be. As such, I decided to share my New Year’s Resolutions for 2024:
Continue reading “New Year’s Resolutions 2024”
In the Before Times, I set New Year’s Resolutions every December and tracked my success against them for some portion of the following year. I tried to revisit this practice last year, but failed early and miserably. Fast forward to December 2022, where I’ve decided that I am finally ready to turn back into a goal-oriented person who can imagine a future beyond the next month. Let’s see how it goes!
Here’s what I have planned for 2023:
Continue reading “New Year’s Resolutions 2023”
A couple of days ago, I was relistening to an old episode of my podcast that seemed particularly timely, so I decided to repurpose some of the content as a fresh blog post. A lot of us have been in a rut for all or most of the past couple of years, thanks to the pandemic. Lately I’ve been feeling more energized and focused, so I wanted to share some tips for getting back into that mindset for those of you who aren’t quite there yet.
I’ve spent most of the past two years grappling with grief, depression, brain fog, and a total lack of interest in basically anything that used to delight or inspire me. So I’m well aware that there’s no quick fix for getting back to a place where you feel like yourself, and I don’t want anyone to feel bad if nothing in this blog post helps. We’re all on our own schedules, and everyone I know who isn’t devoid of a soul has been struggling with other Big Life Things while trying to survive the weirdest two years of our lives. Alongside the pandemic, I’ve had to contend with the deaths of several people I loved and my father having multiple heart surgeries in 2020 and 2021. Beyond that, I had a separate trauma occur that I wasn’t ready to look directly at for several months after it happened, a major issue with my apartment that lasted a month, and some other fun stuff. So, also, I want to acknowledge that the pandemic is not the only bad thing any of us is dealing with right now.
With that disclaimer, if you’re starting to feel ready to work on something other than survival, here are some things that have worked for me:
Continue reading “How to get out of a rut”
It has felt impossible to set or achieve goals the past two years. Only in the past couple of months have I felt remotely like the person I was prepandemic, and I’ve decided to celebrate with something I did every year in the Before Times: setting New Year’s Resolutions. Some of these I’ve adapted from my last list in 2020, as Pandi interfered with my ability to achieve them.
Continue reading “New Year’s Resolutions 2022”
I haven’t signed into my Twitter account since June 4. “I need to be on Twitter” is one of the stories I’m testing out during my #40StoriesProject, a yearlong attempt to learn which of the things I’m telling myself are outdated. The plan for this particular story was to stay off Twitter for three months, but having hit that milestone a few days ago, I don’t see myself going back. I was better informed when I was doomscrolling every day, but about what? If I want to know what’s happening in the world, I get the important stories elsewhere—newspapers, texts from friends, even Instagram. I don’t miss being extremely online, and my reduced exposure to, well, everything has freed up a lot of space and energy, which I’m putting toward personal projects after a lengthy creative drought during the pandemic. Even the alleged value of Twitter for someone interested in a writing career seems largely negated by how bad being on Twitter makes me feel about writers and writing.
Continue reading “How to quit”
How to Be Creative 