NEW YEAR'S INTENTIONS 2021
Happy New Year! I saw a commercial last night during Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve that dubbed 2021 as “Twenty twenty-WON” & I liked that. So here’s to twentytwentyWON. Did you cry when the ball dropped? I absolutely did. We had a lot to celebrate in our family this year but we are also heartbroken over the state of many things. I am meditating on the spirit of hope, as I do every new year but especially this year, for the opportunities that stand ahead of all of us.
We spent our New Year’s Eve, like everyone else (hopefully…) at home. We watched an early ball drop with the boys on Netflix & then put them to bed. I wore my velvet spanks leggings, finished my 50th book of 2020 & we ordered vegan sushi takeout, started the most recent season of the Bachelorette (which I haven’t watched since high school) & sipped champagne as we waited for the ball to drop. In years past, we have a New Year’s Day tradition of breakfast at Waffle House however there isn’t a Waffle House within hours of us in Vermont now so our tradition got a little refresh. We picked up takeout from a local diner which I was happy about as their menu includes many more vegan offerings than Waffle House (& for the record, the vegan option there is simply hashbrowns ahaha) plus they included the most adorable sized maple syrups for the boys (I mean what’s not to love about adorable sized things?!). After breakfast, we spent an hour outside in the sunshine riding bikes & scooters around the neighborhood along with, what felt like, every other neighbor (the culture in Vermont is very much like this, it doens’t matter the weather people are constantly outdoors!). It’s been a blissful start to the year, I deeply hope you can say the same.
Okay so, resolutions. I’ve long been a fan of setting resolutions or rather, intentions for the year ahead. This is a practice I welcome many times over the year— birthdays, anniversaries, the start of the month, week & even a fresh new day are symbolically a chance to reset. I am aware of the criticism of resolutions too, to which I say, if it gives you something to be excited about, to reflect on or dream for, then who cares what the critics say? So what if you don’t hit you goals either, of course, I never go into a resolution expecting not to achieve it but if it gives me hope or a chance to learn or try something new it was worth it. As I’ve thought through what would feel good to focus on in 2021 these are the things I intend to focus most on:
Recalibrating my presence on Instagram. If you keep up with me on Instagram you may have seen that I’m stepping away from the platform for a bit. I’m not setting any specific parameters for what that will look like, I’m just letting each day guide me.
No bitching. I read once about someone who initiated a “no bitching” rule for a week & I’ve never forgotten about it. I tend to be a sneaky bitcher… I won’t go on a rant on Instagram or in front of another person but if Chipotle forgets my guacamole I’ll complain about it to my husband & really— what’s the point right? What am I going to gain from that? How does that influence my state of mind? It’s something I want to notice more & abolish from my actions, even if it mostly just impacts me & occasionally my husband (okay & probably my kids). The small stuff doesn’t matter.
1,000 hours outside. Have you seen this campaign: https://www.1000hoursoutside.com/? I’m all about this! We spend a LOT of time outside during the warmer months but admittedly I’m too quick to call it an “inside jammies day” if the weather is not favorable & that’s a habit I want to shift for all of us.
Read 75 books. Last year I set a goal to read 50 books & I came in at the 11th hour to hit my goal with a young adult book but I KNOW I could have read more. During certain parts of 2020 I let Instagram & other distractions hijack my attention & I hope to trim even more of that from how I spend my time. Reading ALWAYS feels good to me & I love learning or getting lost in a story. I want more of that in 2021. I have a blog post about how I make time for reading that you can check out here that I’ll update at some point this year with a few more things I have learned this year.
No Amazon. (GASP!) I’ve been vocal about my desire to be more intentional with Amazon in the past on my Instagram. In the past two years I’ve vowed to only buy books from independent booksellers (would we like a list of my favorites?!) & no longer on Amazon & similarly the bulk of toys for the boys I choose to purchase from small businesses. But I am human aaaandd it’s a pandemic & I get it. It’s easy. But too easy, especially as we are in a new house with 3 little ones I’ve become more impulsive to purchase the thing we don’t really need. I’ve been quick to buy a new garlic press because I couldn’t find ours or some other unnecessary gadget that I know I would have put more thought into had that “buy now” button not been so easy to tap. I have deleted the app on my phone & I’m starting with not using it all January & then taking it from there.
Wake up at 5am. By nature, I am a true night owl, no matter how hard I fight it my internal clock gives me energy at 10pm despite how tired I am. And I knnnowww about our “natural” circadian rhythm, I know how it works, I just don’t naturally work that way. My body needs to be trained & this year I’m committed to making it happen. I would love to wake up before the sunrise. Do my mediation first thing to set my mental path for the day. Stretch & move with yoga. Watch the sunrise. Brew a warm & forthy latte on my espresso maker (en route!!). Journal & list my gratitude & intentions for the day. I know what I want my perfect morning to look like, I just need to wake up for it. Here we go!
There we have it. Do you set goals or intentions for the year? What’s on your radar for 2021? Make it known to someone (feel free to drop them in the comment box below if you want to put them out into the universe!). Sure it’s freaking uncomfortable to admit to anyone outside my own head that I want to stop “bitching” about meaningless stuff but in my experience, when I give voice (or text…) to my focus it keeps me in line & helps my community support me in doing so.
Happy 2021 mates. May this be your best year yet & at the very least, may it be freaking better than 2020 for everyone.