Navigating Into The New Year + Photo Prompt & Poem

So I took a little week or so off for Christmas since I was so busy, but now I’m back again for a new year!

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I didn’t get a huge amount of writing done, but then again, I didn’t get a huge amount of anything done over the holidays! I’m not feeling bad about it though, since I always give myself a big break just before the new year. I feel like having a total rest after Christmas makes me feel more motivated to start the new year off really strongly.

I’m definitely ready for January now though, between all the Christmas food and the sitting around and going to bed late, I’ve had quite enough of relaxing! I’ve eaten so many Christmas sweets that I’m actually dying for a lettuce or cucumber or something like that! I’m really craving some sushi now actually…

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I’m also very glad to start writing again. I actually missed doing the blog posts a lot, and if felt strange to not be thinking of what to write about and not taking any photo prompts.

It seems like a lucky coincidence that as the new year approached, I came up with the beginnings of a new idea. I think having a fresh plot to think about will give me a lot of excitement to write, so that I can get back into the zone quickly!

It’s still early days, but I’ve been thinking a lot about this new plot, which is the one from my countryside post, and more and more of it is coming into focus, which is nice. The characters are becoming more clear and I worked out a villain that I hope suits the story and setting. And as always, I’ve got a soundtrack for it coming along too!

Apart from that, I got a new camera for Christmas, so I’m very excited to get back outside to find more photo prompts. It’s often been more likely to snow here in January than in December, so I think I’ve still got some time left for some Winter photos!

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I adore Christmas, and I’ve been lucky and had a really good one. It’s always kind of sad to see it end though, which I think could be one of the reasons why I’ve never really felt good about New Years as a holiday.

I like some things about it. A nice meal is always enjoyable, and I like making the resolutions and planning fun things for another year.

But at the same time, there’s always been something about crossing over into another year that left me feeling a bit down. I know some people hate celebrating birthdays because they don’t want to be reminded of ageing. I guess I have that same feeling but it always comes at New Years instead.

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Especially when I was younger, I had a pretty intense phobia of time, infinity, death, the after life, and anything to do with that sort of thing. It was hard to explain it to anyone, because even thinking about it for a few seconds would cause a pretty bad panic attack. (So I won’t linger on this section too long! lol)

I guess that phobia was always why the thought of moving forward in time into a new year was upsetting. I think I’ve got a lot better at handling it now, (having a husband and focusing on distraction is my method!) and instead of just giving up on the holiday, I’m trying to think of the positives, which is why I like the New Year’s resolutions so much.

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So for this year I have plenty of resolutions to get started on. How many of them I can keep up remains to be seen but I’m going to try my best!

1. Tidy the garden: In 2021 I grew some veggies for the first time, I really enjoyed it and I want to expand into flowers this year. The storms did some damage and left it a bit of a mess, so it’ll be a fun project to get it all nice again.
2. Start dancing again: I bought these ridiculous huge mirrors to use for dancing, but I’ve yet to actually do it! I was too scared to look silly for a while, but it’ll be good for exercising as well, so I just need to give it a go.
3. Keep healthy: Hopefully the dancing will help with this one too, but I also want to go back to eating healthier and sleeping at the right time like I did before the Christmas break. I actually look forward to this one because all the sweets and treaty stuff I’ve eaten has given me the world’s largest sugar crash!
4. Finish my book: This is a big one, but I’ve got a whole year to do it and I think I can. I won’t be angry at myself if I don’t make it, but I want to try and aim high!
5. Make a YouTube channel: This is one I’ve wanted to do for a while, but I finally decided to give it a shot. I couldn’t decide what I would make a channel about, but I settles on cooking. My husband also wants to try it, I think he wants us to do one about movies together, which I would also like. Maybe I’ll make more than one!
6. Lastly, watch a lot more movies this year, especially mediocre-bad ones: I adore movies, and I want to actually watch more of them, in particular if we do make a YouTube, I’ll have plenty of options to talk about. (Definitely lots of bad ones!)

So that’s hopefully what 2022 will look like for me in terms of hobbies. I’ll probably end up thinking of something else I want to try as well, since I like having lots of stuff to do. I really enjoyed 2021. I got married, started writing a book, and had a lot of other ideas. I’d say that’s a pretty good time, but I’m not going to let mind linger on saying goodbye to it like I used to. Anyway, I’ve still got all the pictures of it to remember!

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Photo Prompt!

This picture maybe has less of a backstory than some of the others, but it’s one my favourite pictures from 2021. I took it when we went on holiday in the Summer, and it was such a lovely place.

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New Year’s Acrostic!

No longer in December,

Every year it’s hard to cross over.

When the clock shifts just past midnight tonight,

You won’t find me sad, not this time.

Even though new things can be scary,

And the passing of time can be strange,

Right now, I know I’m going to make it a good year.

Thanks for reading, and Happy New Year!