Rather than have New Year's Resolutions that I abandon with reckless disregard on January 7th, I choose a different theme for each year and then drive my three friends crazy by yelling the theme at them for 12 straight months.
I started this in 2013 and have done the following:
2013: The Year of Attitude
2014: The Year of Honesty
2015: The Year of Standing Up for Myself
2016: The Year of Productivity
For the past several months I've been thinking about what I want out of 2017. Obviously I considered all of the usual options: The Year of Hot Yoga; The Year of Nudity; The Year of Murder; etc.
In 2016 I worked really hard. I got a lot done and I'm happy for that. But over the last few years I have felt like something is sort of missing and that a part of my brain is moving upstate to live on a farm with another family, like my bird Feathers when I was 7.
And so, that's why I have decided to make 2017:
I'll let the now-three-year debate regarding who in the above picture is the good angel and who is the bad angel continue.
My line of work can be incredibly heavy and time consuming and in the last three or four years I have found it so much harder to pursue creative projects than it used to feel. Creative writing especially has felt much more difficult in the last few years than any year before. And because of that, writing anything, especially here, has felt like a chore at times. I've pushed on because I like this outlet and I think it's good for me to keep it going. Plus I like being able to interact with all of you and share a piece of my life with Strangers.
Last year when Jolyn and I started Strangerville, we both noticed how refreshing it was to have a new creative project to invest in. That sort of felt like how art used to feel to me, back when it was fun and exciting.
In the final months of 2016, I became so bombarded with the stresses of my work life that I experienced a kind of burnout that I had never experienced before.
I had something of a series of wake up moments as this stress has sort of forced me to consider what I really value and what I want my life to look like.
The big answer I've felt over and over again is that I want to create. I want to encourage my creative side. I'm happiest when I feel like I'm creating something I value.
So in 2017, when I think it might be fun to write something, I'm just going to sit down and do it. When a project comes into my mind, I'm not going to just wish that I could find the time and then forget about it. I'm going to make the time for it, enthusiastically.
As a part of The Year of Creativity, I have some big plans to expand the Strangerverse (I just made that up! SEE HOW CREATIVE I'M ALREADY BEING?!). I'll unveil some of the plans in the next few weeks and beyond, so stay tuned.
I'm ecstatic to spend this year with all of you, and optimistic about what we can become.
How about you? What have you decided to do this year? Any themes? Or regular old resolutions?
~It Just Gets Stranger
The year of Netflix.
ReplyDeleteOk I'm kidding...sort of.
Actually I've been thinking my theme for 2017 is going to be: Be Bold. I don't always say what I think or what I mean because I'm too worried about what other people will think. We all know that can cause problems. This year I'm going to try to be more bold and direct. Wish me luck!
I love this one for you.
DeleteYESSSSS
ReplyDeleteSince you mentioned this back in...November? October? Whenever you first mentioned it I LOVED the idea! So I've been thinking and praying about it ever since. 2017 is the year of JOY. I am naturally very negative. Things that I should be joyful about I make into a burden or annoyance. My children mainly. I know it will be challenging but it something that I need to retrain my mind on. Here's to 2017!
ReplyDeleteI think that is amazing and quite wonderful that you recognize that and want to change. Will you talk to my husband?? To be honest though...I need to exude more joy myself...I just may take this for my quest for the year as well!
DeleteThank you! You should do it! Already I feel more peaceful and really happy. When my children are about to drive me nuts I take a moment to look at them. To really see them. They are just kids. Being kids. It helps me allow them to have more freedom in who they are. I'm not sure if that makes sense but it's already been good.
DeleteThe year of no (sep 2016-aug 2017, I follow the school year, because I miss brand new notebooks in September). I am learing how to say no and trying to get more no's :)
ReplyDeleteThe first one is so that I can fully focus on the things that are most important to me, instead of doing everything, but never as well as I could/should. The second is to make myself less scared of rejections, so that I will ask for what I want and feel I deserve. And feel OK if my requests are declined. There have def been progress since september, but I still have a long way to go, especially with saying no. :)
This was floating around facebook recently:
ReplyDelete"Instead of saying 'I don't have time' try saying 'it's not a priority' and see how that feels. Often it's a perfectly adequate explanation. I have time to iron my sheets, I just don't want to. Try it: 'I'm not going to edit your resume sweetie, because it's not a priority.' 'I don't go to the doctor because my health is not a priority.' If these phrases don't sit well, that's the point. Changing our language reminds us that time is a choice. If we don't like how we're spending an hour, we can choose differently." -- Wall Street Journal
I am going to post this everywhere!
DeleteI heard Dr. Phil (Yes, Dr. Phil) encourage someone once to stop saying "I can't" when people ask them to do things and start saying "I'm choosing not to" in order to help remind us that we have more power than we give ourselves credit for. This has popped into my mind a lot over the years when someone asks me if I want to go out or do something. I stop myself from saying that I can't and suddenly remind myself that I'm choosing not to, which prompts me to consider *why* I'm choosing not to (priorities, interests, social anxiety, etc.). Doing this has actually caused me to change my mind on a lot of things because I didn't like the reason I was choosing not to do the thing. For example, last May an acquaintance invited me to go to a bingo night at a Baptist church near me with a big group of people. It sounded cheesy and fun but I implicitly started to turn down the invitation by saying that I couldn't make it. I stopped myself and made myself say in my head "I'm *choosing* not to go because . . ." and what came after "because" was "I don't know the people in this group very well and so I don't want to go and potentially be uncomfortable even though it sounds like it will be really fun and may be a great opportunity to make some new friends." Once I finished that sentence, I didn't like the reason I was choosing not to do this thing and so I accepted the invite. It ended up being one of the most fun evenings I had all year and I made a few new friends from it.
DeleteI have now written a novel. On my own post. (GET A LIFE, ELI!)
I often think of this concept, because people always ask me how I have so much time to read. And I usually respond that it isn't that I have more time than others—it just so happens that reading is how I choose to spend my free time. Do you have time to watch TV? To play basketball? To cook dessert once a week? There. We all have the same amount of time. I just choose reading over TV, basketball, and baking. We all manage to find the time for what we REALLY want to do.
DeleteEli, I feel like Baptist Bingo Night could have been a post . . . why is this the first time I'm hearing of this?? It's like you have a life outside of the blog! It's like you don't actually share EVERY. SINGLE. LITTLE. DETAIL. with us. And we need those details.
Seriously, just kidding. But we do all love what you do decide to share. ;)
I don't know what I should make for a theme. Maybe homemaking. We left Mexico two weeks ago to spend six months in Virginia while my husband learns French. Then we have a month and a half of homeless wandering (i.e. "home leave"), and then we're off to Gabon, Africa. So with all of that moving and having four kids depend on me for normalcy, homemaking might be a good theme . . .
You would kill it as a homemaker, just like everything you try!! Is "kill it" still a way to say "be great at"? I really hope so.
DeleteThe year of purpose. No more just sitting on the couch eating bonbons while waiting for something to happen. No, I am going to work at making it happen!!
ReplyDeleteSounds like it's time to make a vision board! #seewhatididthere #CREATIVITY
DeleteI've been thinking a lot about this as well. I think 2017 is going to be the year of organization for me. I am generally an organized person but I have a tendency to let everything get unorganized and then reorganize it. Part of the reason I do this is because I love to organize things. However, a bigger part is because I think I'll just do it later (which I do). When I put it off, it becomes a much more time-consuming task than if I'd just done it to start with. If I stay organized I could use that extra time for more things I love to do like reading and scrapbooking.
ReplyDeleteYou should read the life changing power of tidying up! I used to organize and reorganize but this book talks about the power behind getting rid of thing that don't bring you joy. My husband and I have started to get rid of a bucnh of stuff and it really is liberating!
DeleteNope nope nope nope nope - I won't do the hold it and if it doesn't bring you joy get rid of it thing. I have two friends that did this and it didn't help to keep them day-to-day organized. I've already pared down - I have a six-month purge system already. What I'm focusing on is keeping my home organized through the day-to-day stuff. Instead of dropping bills on the filing cabinet, actually filing them right away. Instead of plopping the bag of staples in front of the pantry shelves - putting them away. That kind of stuff.
DeleteTo be fair, that is a large part of her book. She says the first step in getting organized is to get rid of stuff. But the second is to put everything back in its place everytike you use it. Her book sounds a little silly coming from western culture, but I tried her recommendations (even ridiculous things like thanking my shoes for protecting my feet) and they do bring a weird level of joy to tidying up!
DeleteI am so excited about The Year of Creativity! This sort of feels like that part in Princess Bride where they're sword fighting and the guy smirks and says "I know something you don't know. I'm not left handed!" And then he switches his sword to the right hand. Because I think Stranger has been awesome but I feel like you just told us you are going to "actually start trying" now. So yeah. I'm really excited for Stranger this year.
ReplyDeleteFor me this is going to be The Year of Reading. I never read books and I want to start reading every day. By the end of the year I want to have read a bunch of the classics I never read when I was supposed to back in high school. (Maybe I should call this The Year of High School English Do Over).
The library in my home town has an "extreme book nerd challenge" where you have to read 50 books in a year but they all have fall into certain categories (google extreme book nerd challenge for the list). My family and i did it last year and then made a private facebook page to talk about which books we read for each category! It was so fun!
DeleteThank you! Is there any way you could/would share your book list? I would love some ideas.
DeleteDitto. I would love to see your list if you would be willing to share it.
DeleteIf you are counting audiobooks in your theme, I would highly recommend Librivox.org. It has tons of classics that are free because they are in the public domain and because they are read by volunteers. The one downside is that some of the volunteers have annoying voices, but a lot of classics have multiple versions of the same book with different readers. I've usually been able to find a version that I've enjoyed/tolerate.
DeleteI guess it could also be another creative outlet for Eli and Jolyn if they need more ideas.
I googled, and here is the link to Hilary's list: http://www.ifpl.org/extreme-book-nerd/
DeleteI think I'm gonna try this! I may not get one done every week (studying for medical terminology is gonna take some time up) but if nothing else over the summer I'm sure I'll get a lot read!
DeleteOh they have a new one for 2017 already! This was the one I did last year. I only got like 36 books done, but started in March so I'm calling it a success! http://www.ifpl.org/wp_ifplib/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/ebn_2016.pdf
DeleteI'm going with "The Year of Strength". I want to be physically stronger, but strength means more than that to me. It means standing up for myself. It means making hard choices and accepting the consequences. It means forgiving myself and others when it feels impossible. It means taking risks and putting myself out there.
ReplyDeleteI want to be stronger.
Strength was my word for last year! Good luck to you this year!
DeleteI love this! I've done away with the resolutions as well, and instead I've decided that each year I will learn something new. I needed to challenge myself and expand my horizons. I started a few years ago by learning to knit (which I still do and enjoy), then last year I learned Krav Maga (I made it to Level 2 and then broke my shoulder - worth it!), and this year I am going to either start learning French or learn to play chess. Probably both, just because.
ReplyDeleteThis will be my year of health! I dont mean just my body, but my mind and spirit also. I will do things that make me happy as this will make my spirit healthy. I will read more and learn more for my mind's health. And I guess I will *sigh* eat healthier and exercise more. There! I wrote it down and so now I must do it!!!
ReplyDeleteMine is the year of health too! We have some upcoming craziness (undergrad degree, multiple moves, MBA program) and I want to make sure I preserve what health I have :)
DeleteI think this year might have to be the year of loving better. My husband knows I love him, as do my friends, but I can be so much better. I want to be more mindful in my loving.
ReplyDeleteso you inspired me to make 2017 "the year of structure". i am trying hard to do things like eat three healthy (ish) meals a day, work out more days than not, have a spiritual/biblical lesson once a week, etc. i feel like finding the right routine will help a lot of things fall into place for me this year so here's to trying!
ReplyDeletegood luck with your "year of creativity".. i'm excited for what it may have in store for us "strangers"!
This is so inspiring for me. I've been in a holding pattern as I've recovered from early life trauma. I haven't understood why I can't get my life back into gear. I remember reading the post you linked above and how you made a conscious choice to change, then used your choice to motivate you when challenges arose. That was bold and brave, even more so because you've continued to do it each year since the first.
ReplyDeleteTo sum up my recent years, they were successful to the degree I chose to make them so (not that I really understood that at the time). They were:
2013: The Year of Realization
2014: The Year of Working to Get Well
2015: The Year of Recovery
2016: The Year of Baby Steps Back to Normalcy
Now I'm left in a sort of holding pattern, ready to jump back into life in full measure, but hesitant, tentative. Thus I have chosen to make 2017 The Year of Doing It Now. I know I'm ready. I've been holding back, scared I'll rejoin the world in crisis mode. But I know with courage and faith I can return to life fully and be strong, cheerful, and productive if I just do the things I want to do instead of letting fear hold be back. I need to do them now, in the moment, without all the analyzing and chickening out. Writing this is the first thing. I'll do it now, and commit to a better, stronger, more fulfilled 2017.
You got this!
DeleteI love this! Very cool.
DeleteSince you introduced this last fall, I've really been considering this years theme. I'm chosen to "Be Here Now" (so maybe "The Year of Being 100% Present". I tend to rush myself and my family always to the next activity or next to-do on my list. It's lame for everyone, so I'm working to make myself invested in the moments. :) super excited to see what you have in store for Stranger!
ReplyDeleteI do this too! I have a hard time with the whole "I can't wait until... (we have a house, we have kids etc.)" forgetting how awesome life is now.
DeleteI have two, one spiritual and one practical. I'm making this the Year of Faith which is something I've found myself lacking lately, during the times when I should have the most faith. And my other one is the year of responsibility (mainly cause I'm tired of having no clean clothes to wear and having to scrub nasty food off of dishes that were in the sink overnight-the life of a college student)
ReplyDeleteI'm making mine the year of positivity. I'm not an overly negative person but I sometimes let things get to me or dwell on something negative when there is so much to be happy about. And I've noticed myself becoming increasingly negative with my friends/family/coworkers. I thought about how you repeat your theme in your head a lot and have been trying to do that. Like today at work I walked through a door and it swung back and hit me and I initially got annoyed and swore in my head. But then I was like, "NO it is the year of positivity!" and my mood instantly changed. It sounds so silly but I can see how having a thought constantly in your head can really change your year/life/attitude!
ReplyDeleteThis year is the Year of Balance for me. I do a really good job of overdoing it in some areas of my life while completely neglecting others. This year, that changes. I need to do something about my overall state of health, and I think balance will be a great starting place.
ReplyDeleteThe Year of Focus for me! I'm going to be better about putting my phone away and shutting off social media when it's time to work or be present with people. No more pesky distractions. Thanks for the idea!
ReplyDeleteI've set some more specific goals, but as I was writing in my journal about who I want to be this year or by the end of this year, I just kept coming back to being more loving. So I want this year to be the year of love for me. And I mean all kinds of love, love of friends, love of family, love of my boyfriend, showing enthusiasm for things I love, etc.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a resolution as such, but I have a year project. I'm knitting a blanket, one row for each day, color-coded for how I felt that day emotionally. I picked out grey for depressed or stressed days, green for good days, blue for very bad days (basically if the depression gets bad enough to make me cry hopelessly into my pillow), and a cream color for "bubbly days" (a part of my personality that probably only comes out two or three times a year). It's already been interesting: Sunday was a good day, right up until about 7:30 p.m. when someone said something that came out meaner than they expected, and it hurt someone else's feelings. I soon thought to myself "Well, the row will be grey now". But as the night went on, and I continued feeling weighed down, I realized that I didn't want one comment to change a day from green to grey. So I forced myself to process the situation, realize that the two people in question will figure it out, and everything is going to be alright. And even if it wasn't, it wasn't a weight that I needed to carry.
ReplyDeleteSo far I have three green rows. :)
I love this idea! And I love how it motivated you to reprocess on Sunday and come to green in the end. Beautiful!
DeleteI love creavitivity as a theme for you!
ReplyDeleteI did the year theme thing for the first time last year and it was amazing.
2016 - Awake
2017 - Faith