2016: Doodling, Running, Gardening & More in Life as Freya

Happy New Year Folks!

This seems to have become a ritual on Life as Freya; blogging at the beginning of the year is like this thing I’ve been doing for over 5 years now it seems. I hadn’t realised I’d been doing it and now it’s a ritual, a pattern, a routine, like so many other things in our everyday life. Little things we do everyday so often that, sometimes we forget we are doing them, their doing goes unnoticed.

I went back and read a few of my 'start of year' posts and they made me smile with fondness at my younger self. It’s just a couple of years but so much has changed since then. It was pleasant reminder of the joys and challenges, the fun times and the togetherness, love and our family and life as I know it.

Last year I put together a bucket list for the year and did good at it, I think. It was the year of ME and I did a lot of me stuff! I did hit my weight target, watched 100 movies, read 74 books, got started with my kitchen garden, and kept my eyebrows intact through the year. :)

This year I’m putting together a few buckets I’d like to work on. :D

Reading

For three years now I’ve tried to hit the 100 mark in the Goodreads Book Challenge. It took me three attempts to realise that competition, even with oneself was’t the way to go. Reading for numbers just doesn’t cut it.

Of all the things I love doing, this one I love doing the most, so this year I’m looking to take this up seriously, paying more attention to the books I’m reading and being more unforgiving with myself about how I spend my reading time. I’m going to be more critical of my book choices and I’m going to try reduce my #ForeverTBR.

Fitness

I’ve been meaning to get fit but I spent most of last year hoping it would happen while I still lay curled up in the couch. It was only at the end of the year that I finally did something about it and got myself to Zumba class. The last month has been so much fun! (Thanks Yashodhara Lal for introducing me to Zumba in your book There's Something About You)

Getting started helps, it’s still baby steps but now that the ball is rolling it’s easy to push further. A shout-out to Bhawna of YellowMellowLife who pushed me into putting on those running shoes for #Pinkathon at the end of this month. This year I’m back to pushing to finish that marathon. :)

Blogging

Last year I wrote 139 posts, that’s not a huge number but it’s the highest ever and double done in 2014. This year I want to explore the creative space beyond writing. Giving myself space on the reading front has opened up a lot of stuff in the blogging space too.

I’ve enjoyed dabbling with video the last few months and I’d like to do more in the video space this year. Maybe even start a podcast. I’d like to explore the overlap space of reading and creativity, and see what I can do with it beyond writing.

Gardening

I spent a bit of time in the garden in 2015, trying my hand at ideas and experiments. We grew some veggies - corn, carrots, methi, coriander, radish, tomatoes, potatoes, garlic, bitter gourd, but lost some too - palak, peas, chillies. The one thing that flourished through it all was my composting khamba. It’s a hit with everyone!

Got to get more active in the garden this year. I want to expand my potting space and do some more experiments; try my hand at more new plants and veggies. Also got to try and increase my compost production. :)

Learning

This section has a few things to list -

- I’m going to learn to play the harmonica this year. I’ll start of with youtube I think, in the security my bedroom. :D

- I’m going to take up a course related to books this year. I’ve tried my hand at Lit. Degrees before, so not that. I’m not sure but I’m leaning towards a librarian course for now.

- I’m also planning to plunge into some craft challenges. Putting together the quilling pieces for my 500 post winners was a reminder of how much I enjoy craft and why it has to be a part of my year plan.

- And I’m gonna learn to do Zen Doodling. I have to master doodling. :D

 

2015 was truly my ME year. I went through some weird phases in my head but it seems to have been worth it, for now, as the fog is shifting and clarity is making itself somewhat felt.

2016 must follow from where the last year left off, so I’m hoping to better ME this year in all the areas I’m choosing. What I’ve left out in the above are the bits about working on getting more productive, better time management, setting routines, tracking tasks, packing in more stuff,… You know, all that stuff that makes you do more. :D

Aside from do more, this year I’d like to take time out to notice, to see the little things around me, to appreciate the life I have, life as I know it, in everything I do.

What is your plan for 2016? If you run, tell me in comments, we should connect, being running buddies would be great. The same goes for reading and craft, I’d love to join a challenge. So, what’s in your buckets?