2024 Year in Review: Goals and Intentions
Dec. 31st, 2024 08:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rsadelleOh, goodie, another hard year. Having my major dental surgery at the end of 2023 knocked me out of my routine, including changing how I ate for months, and it's only now in the last week of 2024 that I feel like I'm getting back to normal. There was some hard stuff at work this year. The state of the world is, you know, how it is. I wear a mask in stores and am frequently the only one doing so, which hurts my heart and my deep sense of justice and care for other people. I did a lot of zoning out on TV and Tumblr posts instead of doing things that would be better for me.
While they feel like they were drowned out by all the bad things, there were some really great things about this year. I started a new book club to replace the one that ended in 2023, and sometimes we talk about books and sometimes I just spend an hour on Zoom chit-chatting with the one or two people who are there. My other book club continued to meet regularly, and a person who had dropped out came back and told us lots of fun stories about her kids. I had regular masked matinees (watching a TV show or movie while all three of us are masked) with my friends who have long COVID and aren't up for much else. Regular family lunches were a delight. My brother graduated (again) and it's a real joy for all of us that he got into first the grad school and then the specific lab he wanted to work in, especially because he's close enough to come up for the day for holidays. I watched a TV show and emailed about it with my bff and we and another friend did a couple of Discord movie watchalongs I got to spend a very enjoyable afternoon with my childhood best friend and her family and had breakfast with her that same weekend. The friend I watch bad movies with and I got together as often as we could around her cycle of toddler in daycare sickness, and she said she really appreciated that I kept reaching out to her. I went to the beach and replaced worn out clothing and bought a piece of art in a charity auction. I found a second congregation whose livestreamed services I enjoy. I got deeply into a couple of TV shows and wrote some fic.
Create. I kept up my weekly journaling practice most weeks, did some drawing, did some fic writing, wrote some Dreamwidth posts, and did some baking. After the election, I saw a Tumblr post from someone who says that aside from their anarchism, they recommend making something, that they forced themselves to create the day after other hard things and it helped. With one exception, I have written at least one sentence and drawn at least one tiny sketch every day since then, and it does help. I also got very excited about making vegan buttercream frosting this fall.
Get absorbed in stories. I did this! I watched a lot of TV shows, including all eight seasons of House, which is an old-school show with mostly 20+ episodes per season. I read some books I got deeply involved in. I got absorbed in some fic.
Bring new things into my life. I didn't do so great with this. I don't know how I would do this, and I didn't really seek out new things.
Strengthen connections. Nearly everything I can think of as highlights from my year were connecting with other people. I will continue to do this.
Connect to God/engage in Jewish practice. This was hard! I kept up my Shabbat practice, took a class, and went to a Jewish art making workshop. But I don't set time aside for this, especially when I'm not taking a class, and I don't have a community for it.
Improve/maintain my mental/physical health. This did not go well at all. I've been using my end of year time off to try to get myself back into a regular schedule so I can get back into this.
Go to the beach. I did this! It was amazing. I did nothing and learned nothing. I walked or sat on the beach, took a couple of scenic drives, ate delicious food, and stayed in a beautiful room in a beautiful place. It was a good practice in just being present. I will be doing this again.
Buy a new couch. Alas! This did not go well. I went to one place earlier in the year, and to three places at the end of the year. I still need a new couch, so this goes back on the list.
While they feel like they were drowned out by all the bad things, there were some really great things about this year. I started a new book club to replace the one that ended in 2023, and sometimes we talk about books and sometimes I just spend an hour on Zoom chit-chatting with the one or two people who are there. My other book club continued to meet regularly, and a person who had dropped out came back and told us lots of fun stories about her kids. I had regular masked matinees (watching a TV show or movie while all three of us are masked) with my friends who have long COVID and aren't up for much else. Regular family lunches were a delight. My brother graduated (again) and it's a real joy for all of us that he got into first the grad school and then the specific lab he wanted to work in, especially because he's close enough to come up for the day for holidays. I watched a TV show and emailed about it with my bff and we and another friend did a couple of Discord movie watchalongs I got to spend a very enjoyable afternoon with my childhood best friend and her family and had breakfast with her that same weekend. The friend I watch bad movies with and I got together as often as we could around her cycle of toddler in daycare sickness, and she said she really appreciated that I kept reaching out to her. I went to the beach and replaced worn out clothing and bought a piece of art in a charity auction. I found a second congregation whose livestreamed services I enjoy. I got deeply into a couple of TV shows and wrote some fic.
Create. I kept up my weekly journaling practice most weeks, did some drawing, did some fic writing, wrote some Dreamwidth posts, and did some baking. After the election, I saw a Tumblr post from someone who says that aside from their anarchism, they recommend making something, that they forced themselves to create the day after other hard things and it helped. With one exception, I have written at least one sentence and drawn at least one tiny sketch every day since then, and it does help. I also got very excited about making vegan buttercream frosting this fall.
Get absorbed in stories. I did this! I watched a lot of TV shows, including all eight seasons of House, which is an old-school show with mostly 20+ episodes per season. I read some books I got deeply involved in. I got absorbed in some fic.
Bring new things into my life. I didn't do so great with this. I don't know how I would do this, and I didn't really seek out new things.
Strengthen connections. Nearly everything I can think of as highlights from my year were connecting with other people. I will continue to do this.
Connect to God/engage in Jewish practice. This was hard! I kept up my Shabbat practice, took a class, and went to a Jewish art making workshop. But I don't set time aside for this, especially when I'm not taking a class, and I don't have a community for it.
Improve/maintain my mental/physical health. This did not go well at all. I've been using my end of year time off to try to get myself back into a regular schedule so I can get back into this.
Go to the beach. I did this! It was amazing. I did nothing and learned nothing. I walked or sat on the beach, took a couple of scenic drives, ate delicious food, and stayed in a beautiful room in a beautiful place. It was a good practice in just being present. I will be doing this again.
Buy a new couch. Alas! This did not go well. I went to one place earlier in the year, and to three places at the end of the year. I still need a new couch, so this goes back on the list.
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Date: 2025-01-01 07:05 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2025-01-01 11:27 pm (UTC)