Plans and Goals for 2016
22 Jan 2016
Yes, it’s one of my favorite times of year! Time to look back and look forward, like Janus of old, and assess, reflect, and plan. When we were in Nashville this Christmas with Eric’s family (three more uncanonized saints!), I was telling Eric’s dad that I have never felt quite so unprepared for a new year, but that I thought it was a good thing. My word for 2015 was savor, and I take it as a good sign that I was so busy savoring things that I had not a moment to spare for reflecting and planning. Savor is a very good word for baby days! I usually set about four goals for each year, which seems to be just about right for me, but I hadn’t thought about it at all yet on that cold and windy day while we took turns catching Micah at the bottom of the slide (the big boy slide! the twisty one!). I wasn’t worried, though. A new year can start any time we like, and mine usually do start sometime after we’ve settled back in at home after holiday travels. Still, that very afternoon, I curled up in an armchair while Micah’s sweet grandparents were playing cars with him, and I typed four little things into a note on my phone. And here they are! In no particular order.
1) Learn embroidery. I like to try to pick up at least one new skill each year. In the past it has been quilting and candle-making (still not a pro at either, but have had unquantifiable amounts of fun with each, which is the whole point anyway), but this year I’d like to build on my skills with a needle and thread. I started doing cross-stitch a few years ago (probably this was also a yearly goal), and would call myself moderately proficient at it. It’s fun and relaxing, and I love seeing images come together in tiny little stretches of thread. This past year I have been experimenting with images on linen, in my delightfully rudimentary way: a traced image on tissue paper and my trusty companion, back-stitch. It has been great fun, but I’d like to learn some new stitches and expand my repertoire. Time for seed stitch and satin stitch!
2) Dig deep into my faith traditions. I was raised Catholic and spent most of my young adult years away from the church before coming home in my mid-twenties. I would say that one of the greatest delights of this past decade has been discovering so many beautiful prayer traditions that I really knew nothing about, Catholic school notwithstanding! I love exploring these (centuries-old) spiritualities like a kid in candy shop. It fills my heart with joy that it seems there is truly something for everyone and for every season of life, whether it’s the rosary or the examen or the divine office or novenas or Simbang Gabi or lectio divina or Las Posadas or meditation or labyrinth-walking or learning about the saints or celebrating the liturgical year. Even just the little bit of exploring I have done has been so deeply rewarding, and I want to keep it up all year. (And just a small note to say that I have great love and respect for all spiritual traditions and never want to make anyone feel uncomfortable in talking about my faith. One of the things I love most about my faith is its affirmation that every person is wholly beautiful, unique, and filled with light. Whatever shape that light may take, I love and honor it.)
3) Use my time better. Hoo boy, this is a big one! It includes, but is not limited to the following:
-Plan my days more effectively. Plan activities and outings for Micah. I have been doing much better at this by just having a list for each day. I make it the night before so I can hit the ground running in the morning, and it makes all the difference. Plus, who can deny the thrill of crossing things off a list?! Instant motivation.
-Be more efficient with those hours after Micah has gone to bed. 7:03pm rolls around every evening, and my head spins with all the things I have been waiting for just a few minutes of quiet to accomplish. But I’ll just check my email first. And then 40 minutes have gone by, and I realize I am really exhausted because my sweet baby keeps getting up at 5am. No more! The benefit of typing up goals after you’ve started working on them is that you have learned a bit already. What have I learned? Honestly, to keep moving. Wash those bottles, start that laundry, clean out that closet, work on that sketch. And then, when exhaustion hits, cozy up with a book or some needlework and a podcast (Serial! Undisclosed! Bookworm! The Moth! I have no new wisdom here, but all of these are beloved for a reason) before bed, with the glorious bonus of not having any tasks hanging over your head when you do.
-Get babysitters more frequently. We love a date every now and again, but I would like to have someone come sometimes for a few hours during the week so I can get to the gym or just read a book and drink tea in perfect silence. Ahhhh! I know that time off makes me a better and more attentive mom, so I heartily intend to make it happen.
-Go to Joshua Tree! It is our closest national park. Thus, it is a very good use of our time to go there. So says me!
-Help others. Simply put, I have so much. I want this to be a year of giving and doing and helping.
4) Make more art. Because it feeds my soul.
5) And this very last one came to me about a week ago: read a book in Russian. I spent a lot of years studying this completely intoxicating language, and I want to keep sharpening my linguistic knives (ohhhhh, they are pretty dull right now). I haven’t decided which book yet, but heaven knows my bookshelves are full of shiny new paperbacks and musty old editions that I rather perilously hauled back with me from Russia (perilous because I could really have injured my back or incurred exorbitant overweight luggage fees. If not for that kind KLM agent taking pity on me…I’d be about 100 Euros poorer today). K-Sos! Shelly! Any other intrepid Russian-speaking readers of this blog! Long-distance book club?
This probably seems like an awfully long list of goals for someone who is raising a toddler, but I find it so helpful to think about what I really want to focus on. Goals are like Voldemort–the more you speak them aloud, the more powerful they become. I am sure I won’t knock all of these out in 2016, but I am sure going to have a good time trying. Happy new year to all!!
And also, THANK YOU! You sweet and wonderful people, you have brought tears to my eyes with your beautiful comments. It amazes me that I can disappear for a month or so, show back up, and have you all shower me with your kinds words and affirmation. You are the best! The bestest best! I am so thankful for each and every one of you!
Jan 22, 2016 @ 11:59:02
I love this post, and your photos — especially the one of Micah in the magical library (the zebra! the giant book!), and the one of you in front of that fantastic quote. (Incidentally, when I recently posted the anniversary photo of Jacob and me, Facebook asked me if I wanted to tag myself as YOU! I was so flattered and tickled! Sort of a ha-ha-ha to facial recognition software, but most of all such a compliment to me!)
I jive so much with your goals. I also am soul-fed by creative/art projects, and I have been craving better time management. Someone wise recently recommended The Inner Guide Planner to me, and I bought it, and I love it! I can see what I do with my time and schedule windows for things, alongside the important questions about what I really want. You might like it, too. It’s for 2016, but as you said, never too late to start (I started a week late). 🙂
Thank you always for all your inspiration and uplifting photos and radiance. I think this a lot when you come up in my feeds, but don’t stop to say it enough!
Feb 02, 2016 @ 10:18:47
Oh, Moriah! You are so sweet! I would be deeply flattered if Facebook thought I was you too! I loved those anniversary photos, by the way. You and Jacob are so full of love and light and always bring a smile to my face! Ohhh, I am intrigued by the planner! I will look it up for sure! Time management is probably the great unsolvable problem, but at least we can approach mastery, asymptotically, with the right tools. I like the idea of the questions alongside the planner because they so often get shuffled to the background and the noise of the have-tos takes over the quiet whisper of the want-tos. Thank you for the inspiration! Yes, never too late to start–I will probably be posting new year things along until about April, I think:) Happy creative new year to you, my dear! And thank you as always for your sweet and thoughtful comments! And for filling my IG feed with your gorgeous creations!
Jan 22, 2016 @ 12:36:15
Great post ….love these goals. “Help others.” Is one of my goals too…trying to work out how though….
Good luck.
Feb 02, 2016 @ 10:19:34
Thank you, Tanu! Happy new year and good luck to you too!
Jan 23, 2016 @ 06:17:06
I too love goal setting. It’s a great start to the year with intention. I am looking forward to seeing how your year progresses!
Feb 02, 2016 @ 10:20:13
Hurray for a new year and a new wonderful season of DLP! I love seeing your bright pops of color in my IG feed. One of these days I will join you!
Jan 23, 2016 @ 07:37:17
Russian book club?! There is a huge part of me that is jumping up and down and shouting for joy! (Thinking of Prof. Newlin–rad! rad! rad!!) There’s another part of me that is freaking out because my Russian is truly terrible…it has languished for so long and is sadly atrophied. However, nothing ventured, nothing gained…and I think it would be a good idea to start feeding it again.
Feb 02, 2016 @ 10:22:47
Hahaha, I most definitely feel the same way. I think the book selection will definitely be a short one…something manageable. This reminds me of a rather hilarious moment in my Russian oral entrance exam for grad school. I was telling my interlocutors that I had spent the summer reading Liudmila Petrushevskaia on the metro because her stories were “ne tiazhelo chitat’.” I got some raised eyebrows. They are defffffinitely tiazhelo chitat’, just not trudno! I am very sad to admit that I cannot remember Prof. Newlin’s chorus of “rad!” Back to Oberlin we go!
Feb 02, 2016 @ 16:03:01
I never actually HAD Prof. Newlin, but I was told a story about him teaching a 101 class. Someone either didn’t know or had forgotten the meaning of rad. He says, “You know…rad!” with a smile on his face. Catching a look of non-comprehension, he starts prancing up and down, “Rad! Rad! Rad!!” Given the strong resemblance he bears to Lenin, this was apparently particularly hilarious.
Feb 17, 2016 @ 20:39:38
Oh yes, of course, I remember this now! I only had him for lit classes, but he was particularly magnificent in Tolstoyevsky. I remember that he had you write your dorm phone number on your first-day-of-class info sheet, and he would occasionally call you if you missed too much class. Ha!
Jan 24, 2016 @ 14:19:07
We could be twins, I have similar goals in my life and I am always striving to not waste my time 🙂 Good luck!!
Feb 02, 2016 @ 10:25:19
Haha, yes, I do believe we are kindred spirits, but I wish I had more of your clutter-busting ways! Trying to work on that one a bit, possibly in conjunction with Lent…mostly we just have lots of things leaning here and there to serve as makeshift baby-proofing. But I hope we can come up with some more attractive solutions (we currently have an infant carseat stacked on top of a Pack N Play to keep our little explorer from shimmying under the coffee table and pulling out all the cords from our surge protector!) I suppose at the very least I could learn to cherish these imperfections–babies don’t keep! 🙂
Feb 01, 2016 @ 08:35:01
what a great set of goals.
i wish i had the strength, energy, motivation to learn something new each year..
and once the boys go to sleep no matter how many things I thought I’d get done.. i am succumbed by the need to hide under the covers and watch something on my phone or read a little..
Feb 02, 2016 @ 10:26:09
Oh Hena, I totally agree! Last night I definitely eschewed everything on my to-do list in favor of some mindless interneting. The brain and body need a rest sometimes, and you work so hard with your two boys!
Feb 14, 2016 @ 09:28:28
Again, late to the game on this one, but I still feel like the year is very new (time has moved strangely for me this past year. I don’t even know if I feel like there has been a strong sense of continuity….It really is like a “year, interrupted”–not to steal too brazenly from the book and movie of the same name!). New years aside, I have always admired the way you have set goals for yourself and, by all accounts, have managed to live them, bringing your various goals to fruition (painting, bread baking, savoring and all the other fine things you have done)! This year’s, too, seem noble and impressive. 🙂
And I support a long-distance Russian book club! Oddly enough, the first author to come to mind was Petrushevskaia (I always had a soft spot for her, even if OM thought my paper on her plays was a touch weak), although Chekhov is often pleasurable and easy (first author I ever read in Russian!), not to mention Tolstoy and some of his shorter works…Prishvin, too, is lovely, although I’m not sure if you’d be able to access them (maybe online, but not in book form probably…He’s still quite rare, sadly). Let me know if you want to go ahead and do this; I was also thinking how sad it is that my Russian has become so rusty. In my last meeting with IP, she told me “not to let it go as that would be sad” and I agree.
In Praise of Intuition
Jan 05, 2017 @ 03:01:33
[…] scrolled through my blog posts from 2016 (not many!), and I found this post about my plans and goals for 2016. I had completely and utterly forgotten that I had written it. […]