The Christmas tree is packed away, the last of the stocking stuffers have been taken to work by my husband (thankfully!), and one kiddo is back in school. Even though my little guy has another 3 days at home with mom, he's old enough that I can still get back to my regular working routines.
I have so many beautiful visions for 2019, and figured I'd share a few with you today! First of all, I typically have a "word of the year," but this year things are looking a little different. If anything, my word is explore. I don't want to limit this year to any one specific thing. I don't want to think about it too much -- I want to be free and open to let 2019 guide me into exactly the place I need to be.
I'm sure a lot of this has to do with the launch of my podcast this past November. You Might Not Like It is thriving and it's something I'm so excited to pour into for this whole year. I feel like I'm making small but real differences in people's lives by being able to share stories of my own, plus the always-inspiring insights from the people I'm most fascinated by.
Speaking of -- today I released one of my favourite episodes to date, episode 11, which is jam packed with wisdom and reassurance that you're exactly where you need to be at this exact moment. It's an interview with one of my favourite people in the world, check it out here.
It's been a full year since packing up and moving from the suburbs to the city. We're feeling very settled in the Glebe and constantly thank our lucky stars that we had the guts to trade in our dream home for a dream life. It has been impactful for our relationship, our family, and our health both mentally and physically. Ryan's 5km walk to work has been a blessing; a way to decompress from work life and be entirely present while at home. Plus, he's home way earlier now that he's not trucking along the 417 from Gatineau to Stittsy!
Now that I'm only 2 streets away from the most magical fitness studio in Ottawa, I've upped my workouts from 1-2 times a week to 4-6 times a week. That, coupled with a really enjoyable experiment with eating low-carb, has allowed me to enter into this new year 45 pounds lighter than last year. I have big plans for 2019 and oddly enough, they don't include bread.
After wrapping up 2 weeks of winter break with my family, I found myself going right back to those mid-December ways: on my phone a lot and investing so much time in social media. But it didn't feel as good. It was somehow...draining. Very unlike me...
So in the last few days I took a hard look at why that might be, and here's my best guess: after experiencing real life joy (friends, family, celebrations, cottage weekends, board games, wine, laughter, gift giving, the twinkly lights in the living room...), anything on the screen just felt far less wholesome. I felt removed from seeing photos of people vs. seeing their faces in real life. I realized I needed to take a step back. To pull out my phone less. To actually find myself in a room in my house without my phone directly within reach.
It's hard to set boundaries like that, but one strategy to remind myself has worked very well just in the last couple days. I rearranged my icons and changed my background so that it looked like my phone was someone else's entirely. Nothing was left in its place, even the phone and the texts icon! Even Spotify! Everything was moved. New folders, new names. I fumble around on there like I'm learning something new instead of running on autopilot and being a slave to my own socially inclined fingertips.
It reminds me that consuming content on my phone needs to be an active choice, not an automatic.
I still use social to promote the various projects I have on the go, I can't disappear entirely. And one thing I'm glad to have seen quickly on one of my intentional check-ins -- Alyssa Beltempo's post about JOMO. The *joy* of missing out. The value of saying no to things. Staying in. Giving yourself what you need, not what anyone else expects from you. Instagram, I'm definitely missing out since putting you in a new folder, but that's kinda seriously awesome.
2019 will bring many beautiful things, one of which that I'm pretty excited about: I'll be turning 30 in November! Much more to come on that front -- there are a lot of things I'm envisioning for the day I say goodbye to my twenties forever. That being said, I'm so content knowing that I'm on the right path, with each day bringing me one step closer to that milestone. I can't wait to see these next 11 months guide me into it. My heart is open. I'm ready to explore.
Happy new year!
, and one kidd...){kind=link}
Post a Comment