It is 2017, ya’ll! Can you believe it?! For some reason, this particular new-year-transition seems exceedingly “bigger” than in previous years, more potent and perhaps even a little more exciting. Because, my dearest friends, I have big plans this year! For my own personal life, for you, for the SweetGeorgia blog, and for the designs that we love putting out.
I think I spend about three months at the end of the year, mulling over what has been working and what hasn’t, but it isn’t until the week after Christmas that the drive to hammer out a plan kicks into gear. And boy, did it kick into gear! I spent every day last week, head bent and writing-hand cramped, scribbling out notes of what I wantย to change, what I learned in 2016, and what I want for myself. I ask myself things like:
- What projects got me the most excited this past year? Least excited?
- What did I learn about myself?
- What do I want to cultivate in the year to come? Howย can bring I that about?
- What new thing do I want to try?
- What old habit do I need to get rid of?
It is such a cathartic experience. Now, I’m not into “resolutions,” so to speak, but these questions guide me into a new “big picture” vision for the new year. That big picture lets me choose specific goals and even more specific baby steps to accomplish them.
Now, does it all get done? Oh, good gravy, no! In fact, 2016 was a year in which I realized that I need more help in my life, as well as a need for a more grounded, calm focus. I faced some pretty big transitions that tested my patience, made me question what my priorities were. I had many (many, many, many) moments where those lessons felt too big, too hard, too awful and as a result, things floundered (like my morning routine). But at the end of the tunnel, I was reminded that these fluctuations shake things up to point me where I’m supposed to go, to help me remember what I’m supposed to be learning. Somewhere in those moments, I accomplished amazing things that I never thought I could do … like moving my family across the country, helping my husband face difficult job changes, knitting six projects in less than three weeks, and writing my first novel. It’s like knitting that first ever lace project (think back – I bet you know exactly “the one”) – you knit and knit, rip and rip, perhaps even pull your hair out a little bit and throw it aside because of all those dang missed yarn overs or backward decreases. But, each time you started over, you got a little bit better, didn’t you? A little bit wise, a little bit … calmer about it. That right there is what I’m carrying over with me into 2017, thanks to the challenges in 2016.
While I finish up my final plans for the year (more patterns, more colour inspiration, more fiber-love for you), tell me what you want to carry over into this bright-with-hope New Year.
PS – for those curious, my daily planner is the A5 Inkwell Classic put into a Malden cover. It comes with those handy little goal pages, too. The blue covered planner with SGY on the corner is a monthly planner from Erin Condren that I use as my editorial calendar (I am such a paper girl).
