Hello 2018. It’s a few weeks in and I’ve been taking my time getting comfortable in this new year and trying to work out what my goals should be for it.

Creative
Make at least 1 zine
Complete my sashiko placemats (2)
Record 1 second everyday video – everyday! It will be fun to look back at 365 seconds of video at the end of the year
Carry on with my drum lessons and organised at least 1 jam session with friends
Do at least 1 workshop where I learn a new skill (creative or practical or both)

Home
Move house to our own place
Create my ideal study with space for all my things as well as to work and create in
Host some gatherings with friends

Travel
Go abroad somewhere (Copenhagen or Japan?)
Alpaca walking trip with my Mum
Make plans to visit friends in the UK at least 3 times

Work
Sign up for the mentoring scheme at work
Keep a record of small and large achievements I have had so I can record these on my annual review when it is time to do so

Miscellaneous
Read 100 books (including at least 10 from the library and 10 I owned prior to 2018)
Watch 12 (new to me) films

I’ve also thought of a word that I want to try and embody in 2018 and that word is Resilience. I mean this in the sense of feeling more able to find what I need by looking into myself and by trusting in my own skills, knowledge and abilities.

My yearly goals can be found here and I reflected on them after 3 months here, at the half way point here and three quarters of the way through here.

I would say that my goals were on average half successful this year. I read a lot more books than I planned and did some creative stuff like my embroidery but it wasn’t necessarily the creative stuff that I planned to do. I enjoyed doing the lino printing 1 day workshop and hope I can do more in 2018 at home.

I didn’t travel as much as I had hoped but I did enjoy my trip to Bristol and my Indietracks mini break.

My favourite thing that I did for myself this year was starting drum lessons. I’ve gone from not being able to play at all, to being able to read basic drum tab and play along with some songs which is a pretty big achievement for someone who has struggled to stick to anything musical.

Some things I would like to carry forward with me to 2018;

1 second everyday videos were a lot of fun to watch back at the end of each month where I did them so I would like to carry on with those
Less social media – especially FB. I deleted the app off of my phone around June and it has remained deleted. I don’t really miss it.
More decluttering especially as it looks like we may be moving in the early part of next year.

My yearly goals can be found here and I reflected on them after 3 months here and then again at the half way point here.

Studying and Learning

After all my wittering last time about catching up with Wanikani, I once again didn’t keep up with it so I started again from level 1. I’m almost done with level 3 and it feels like it is sticking a bit better on the second time through. I’m not always managing to get through my revisions every day but I’m enjoying it.

Travel

Since I last updated I’ve visited Bristol as well as a very flying visit to Leicester for Glitterfest. I still hope to have a few days away with my Mum somewhere although realistically I’m not sure if money and time will get in the way now this year. I’ve also started saving for my next trip to Japan – no plans yet, but starting to put some money aside for it has helped me feel a bit more positive that it can and will happen.

Creating

I’ve started a new hobby – sashiko embroidery. So far I’ve almost completed the stitching on my first project and have another 2 lined up to do. I plan of sewing the finished pieces into quilted table mats.

I’ve also resumed joining together the squares for my crochet blanket now that its starting to get less warm. I’m also still carrying on with my drumming lessons (although life conspired to get in the way of these over the last month or so) I’m pretty happy with my progress though and hoping to get a kit once we (finally) move.

Other

I hit my Goodreads goal for 2017 at the end of July so I was pretty ahead of the curve on that one. I’ve carried on reading a lot specially since I discovered that my local library allows me to borrow e-books and had quite a few that were on my to read list. By the end of September I’d read a total of 101 books.

Here are the books I have enjoyed the most in the last 3 months;

Eleanor Oliphant is totally fine – Gail Honeyman
Fetch – Nicole Georges
Queens of Geek – Jen Wilde
Station Eleven – Emily St. John Mandel
The No Spend Year – Michelle Mcgagh
Moxie – Jennifer Mathieu

I’ve finally made some progress of the de-cluttering front. I’ve got rid of a lot of books, DVDs and clothes – either through donating to my local PDSA shop or selling via ziffit. Over the year, I’ve also found that I’ve been using social media much less especially in the evenings and I think it’s helped me a bit with not feeling like I compare myself and my life to others.

I think it is fair to say that in a lot of ways, I’m not where I wanted to be at this point in the year. I lost a member of my family in May and it hit me quite hard for a variety of reasons that feel a bit too raw to go into on such a public forum.

My yearly goals can be found here and I reflected on them after 3 months here.

Studying and Learning
This has actually been one where I have made some progress on all of the goals I set out to do. I let Wanikani practice slide over the last few months and I debated restarting at a lower level but then spent last weekend working through all my outstanding reviews and feel like I am getting back on track and am now finally making some progress towards completing level 5.

I went on a lino printing 1 day course in June at the Herbert Art Gallery where I made this print of a squirrel. I’m hoping to do some more printing at home (once inspiration strikes)

I’m still having drumming lessons and I’m about to go from having fortnightly lessons back to having weekly lessons which I’m looking forward to.

Travel

This is the area where I have made the least progress. So far, we haven’t booked any holiday or breaks away anywhere and the only cities I have visited are ones I’ve already been to.

Creating

I haven’t done much under this category. I’ve been working on bits and pieces of crochet but I haven’t really made progress of the blanket or jumper. I have done a few more pages in my sketchbook though so that’s something.

Other

I’m making great progress on my Goodreads target as I’ve currently read 54 books out of total goal of 70. I’m pretty confident that I’m going to hit this way before the end of the year as I’m finding reading it one of the few things I have been able to commit to at the moment. Plus kindle sales have meant I have plenty of things to read that take my fancy.

Here are the books that I have enjoyed most in the last 3 months;

 Infinity Net – Yayoi Kusama
 Becoming Betty – Eleanor Wood
 The Upside of Unrequited – Becky Albertalli
 Our Chemical Hearts – Krystal Sutherland
 Beartown – Fredrik Backman
 You and me and him – Kris Dinnison

I actually ended up deleting the FB app off of my phone during the lead up to the election which has had the bonus of cutting down my casual FB browsing time. I’m still using it (and twitter) but not as much I have been so that feels quite positive.

Going forward, I think I want to try and focus on building some positives for this year. I’m still looking for houses but I also want to make sure I have some other things to look forward to whether it’s more day courses, short breaks away or gigs. I’m heading to Manchester this weekend to see Martha play with Joyce Manor.

I wrote about my goals for 2016 just over a year ago on this blog. I thought I would write a little about how those worked out before writing about what my plans are for this year.

 Complete and pass my Japanese for beginners class – I finished my classes but I didn’t get the certificate as I struggled with the listening particularly. I’m still carrying on learning on my own though so it still feels like a positive
 Renew my passport and plan a trip to see my friend Lisa in Tokyo in October – I did this! I still haven’t written up my trip. I was also lucky enough to go to Luxembough for a break with J which I hadn’t originally planned.
 Grow my hair and get a fringe cut back in (I’ve tried to get away for it, but I always end up with fringe envy!) – Yup, my hair is slowly growing and I’m back to having a fringe (which is currently in need of a trim)
 Take a second silversmithing class (This is something that I’m almost sure will happen because my Mum generously paid for this as my Christmas gift) – This actually didn’t happen because I didn’t seek out one to do as I got caught up with both work and my travel plans.
 Have a massive overhaul of my possessions and our current house (ready for the next point) – I did this a bit but not as much as I wish I had (which means there is still a lot to do)
 Keep saving towards buying our own place – Yup! I did this every month bar November and December
 Carry on writing in this blog on a regular basis – ish! I mean, I didn’t write a lot but I did still post a few things here
 Write another perzine and another issue of Rebel, Rebel – I didn’t make any zines at all in 2016 aside from a tiny mini zine about stationery that I made just before Weirdo zine fest.
 Read at least 52 books (an average of 1 per week) – Yup! I read 98 books in the end

On reflection, I think I did ok. My year was personally a good one even though I felt upset, dejected and shaken at times by the state of the world and what seemed like a non-stop stream of bad news on a local, national and global scale.

Aside from getting to travel – I rediscovered a love for knitting socks, enjoyed watched iZombie, Crazy Ex-girlfriend and Gilmore Girls, drank a lot of coffee, got to hang out with friends at various events, went to a few gigs and also started walking a lot more.

2017 goals are currently brewing in my brain so I will write about those in the next few days