My 2013 Goals

Last year I didn't really think about too many goals, I wanted to be more healthy as 2011 was a tough year for my health, but unfortunately it continued over to 2012. I'm glad to say that the last 6 months, my health (the pain factor) has improved quite a bit, so I'm really thankful.

This year, I think the overall big theme will be creativity. This has been lacking a lot in my life for the past few years. Really, ever since my last 365 project. A bit after my 365 project, I fell into a deep depression that lingered for the longest time. I'm no stranger to depression though, so I was used to it but it's always a challenge to be in a depressed state, while in a relationship and not have it suffer (too much) because of it. Anyway, during that time, I had no drive to create anything and then my health took a nosedive and whenever I felt like being creative, most of the things I liked to do would leave me in pain so I felt super discouraged.

This year I want to be more creative again and to rediscover some things I've not done for a long while. On top of that, I want to continue improving my health in various ways. These two are my biggest goals, but I love lists, so I'm making a list!

Health:

• Do yoga weekly with my Yoga PAH! dvd.
• Weekly photo walks. Finally slow down enough to get to know what surrounds me.
• Get my bike fixed up in time for Spring.
• Eat food more in tune with my beliefs (local & ethical).
• Drink more water. I'm terrible at this, I don't know why but gee, if my body is falling apart - maybe this is something I should prioritize.
• Garden more (this is really good for my soul).
• Make more of an effort to connect with my friends. I'll always be a loner and solitary time is extremely important to me but I need to remember that seeing friends also makes me feel good.
• Practice patience. I can be a bit short-tempered (my poor partner) and flip out when I'm feeling rushed or something isn't going the way I want it to and I let myself become all flustered and frustrated instead of just taking a few minutes to breathe and let it go.

Creativity:

• Start a sewing project (more about that soon!).
• Start a 365 photography project (see my previous post about this!)
• Learn more about natural dyes (mushrooms!).
• Learn how to spin with my spinning wheel. I have a traditional Ashford, which I haven't used before (the one I used before was some mysterious spinning wheel that was actually meant to be a prop) and feel intimidated by it. It's time to get over that.

Home:

• Set up a weekly cleaning system with my partner. We're okay at maintaining our home most of the time but we could improve a lot.
• Continue to let go of stuff, in preparation for moving into a new home.
• Continue exploring canning & preserving with my partner. 

Misc:

• Cook one new recipe per month from this book I got Maya last year.
• Read 25 books. I always think this is so doable but then realize I didn't read nearly enough so maybe establishing a goal of 25 books will help. Also, I'd like to focus mostly on books that already exist on my bookshelf instead of buying more books!