Hi friends! I'm back with one of my favourite kind of posts to write, which is where I get to look back on the year I've had and reflect on how it's gone. I mentioned some of my 2022 goals in this post and this post but there were some new resolutions that I've added since - so there will be a few bonus ones. These will be very honest reflections as I definitely didn't achieve them all, so buckle up!
In no particular order, here we go:
1. I was re-reading my 2021 version of this post to remind myself of the format of it, (this is what happens when you don't do weekly blog posts anymore!), and I noticed that I chose to carry over one of those goals for this year too, which was to 'spend less time on my phone'. I do think that I achieved this one again as I still have the daily one hour timers on my social media apps, as well as my overall screen time goal which I try my best to stick to, as well as also having push notifications from social media apps turned off, so that I choose when I get to use the more distracting/addictive apps instead of having that dictated to me. It's very important that we are in control of our screen time so that it is not in control of us, which is something I said last year and still wholeheartedly stand behind, so if you're looking for a resolution for next year, this one is invaluable. Important caveat however, and I reflected on this one briefly in my twenty-seven lessons learnt in twenty-seven years post but I do think that there should be exceptions - it is a worthy goal but I don't hold social media and Youtube in the same regard when it comes to screen time - If I spend all day scrolling on TikTok, my mental health will inevitably crash, but spending a few hours watching fun and educational content on Youtube doesn't harm me in the same way at all, so make sure you're still allowing yourself that. This also tied in with my goal of going to bed earlier instead of staying up on my phone which I haven't quite conquered consistently yet, but I am getting there.
2. Another one which I spoke about briefly in this post is the importance of pre-ordering books (which I have done all year, and I think it is still a lovely thing to do but it did suck a bit earlier this winter when Waterstones had a huge warehousing issue and I ended up getting a selection of my pre-ordered books weeks later, so it is a risk) Anyway, this one ties into my goal for this year which involved me wanting to read more books. At the time of writing, I have read 48 books, which is the most I've read since 2018 when I read 65 books, (most of which were course books for uni rather than recreational reads), so I have definitely upheld this one and I am very proud of that. I no longer set book goals as I just tend to read as much as I want to/as much as the current schedule of my life will allow, but as I'm on book 48, it would be nice if I could hit 50 by the end of the year and I do think that I will. Considering that I read 26 books last year, I am still pretty proud of 48 if I don't hit 50, though!
3. This is a cute one - I wanted to see more sunsets this year, and I definitely feel like I achieved that. I've seen more sunsets in my local area, while visiting my mum in London, in Wales, and in Bruges so I would give that one a great big tick. It was a lovely goal and I will definitely aim to continue to look up at a pretty sky more often.
4. Another cute one, Stephen and I implemented fortnightly marriage meetings at the start of this year, (which I discuss in better detail here and here, if you want to read about what they actually are), but we have been doing them for an entire year now and we love them. It is lovely to have a routine pocket of time every two weeks to discuss how we feel about each other, and our relationship. I've seen a lot of discourse on these over the year, particularly on Twitter, and they do tend to get a lot of hate as people think that they sound too similar to end of year reviews/appraisals at work, but I am very grateful that they don't feel like that to us, personally! It should be fun and wholesome to sit crossed legged with your partner, hold hands, and talk about all the ways that you appreciate them, as well as planning out your next fortnight together so that you're on the same page on what is coming up, and who is in charge of what. It's also lovely to sit and plan out date nights - since we do those fortnightly too, they alternate with our marriage meetings so it's fun to have something cute to plan in each one. We have also added in a budgeting section at the end of our meetings which is great as our honeymoon is next year and our upcoming move (which was a resolution for this year, but we didn't make it), is also hopefully next year, so this is an important addition for us.
5. This one wasn't so much of a goal as it was a can we finally get to do this thing we are so looking forward to this year please but I mentioned it in my goals so I will talk about it - we had our wedding reception this year and it was absolutely perfect! The wedding events of #loveisintheairey did come to a close and we are very grateful we got to have everyone we love surround us as we had our official first dance, cut our cake, did our speeches, and partied the night away.
I also mentioned that as my second wedding dress would show all of my tattoos, I wanted to make sure I got all of the original 11 tattoos on my list that I wanted on show for the wedding, including my anniversary tattoo which Stephen drew for me, (it's a map of all of the places we went to on our first date, turned into a constellation). I am happy to announce that I did tick off all of the original 11, and added four more to the mix as well. I already have two tattoos booked for the new year too, one of which is with the artist who did my first teeny tiny lightning bolt tattoo back in 2020, which is incredibly exciting!
6. This one is something that I felt I was already convinced that I could achieve when I wrote about it in my 2022 goals post, but I wanted to stop bleaching my hair and embrace my natural hair colour as it looked healthier and shinier when it was left alone. I did do exactly that and can definitely feel a difference in the state of my hair - my salon appointments are also less frequent* and more affordable now, which is always an incredible bonus.
*except for my monthly fringe trims because to everybody's surprise including mine, 2022 was the year I finally gave in to my Rory Gilmore tendencies and got bangs, but fringe trims are free, so the point still stands!
7. My next goal was to take better care of both my skin, as well as the planet, by switching to Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish to remove my make up instead of make up wipes. At the time of writing my goals post, I had successfully made the swap for about a month and was already feeling better for it, so I feel even better now since I haven't touched a make up wipe since. It is a great joy that my skin has improved since, and that my skincare products sink into my skin better now that it is being properly cleansed (who knew, right?!) I also wanted to stay a pescatarian to reduce my negative impact on the environment, and to continue finding more delicious meat alternatives, both of which I have done YAY. Most recently, I've discovered the Richmond no-chicken chargrilled pieces and I have never in my life tasted anything as good as these. I'm probably going to eat them for my Christmas meal and everything. So good.
8. I did say that I would be very honest in this blog post, so here it is - a work in progress reflection. One of the goals I struggled with was the 'protect my peace' goal. On one hand, I did achieve this and I have gotten WAY better at speaking up at what I want and setting my boundaries, but I still find it difficult, and as a lifelong people pleaser, it doesn't come naturally to me. I struggle with the responses of those I set boundaries with too as I really hate conflict and causing 'trouble' in my personal relationships, so much so that I push my feelings away so as to not cause drama but I am learning that this is complete betrayal of self and I have to stop - hopefully with some counselling, I'll be able to move past this and remember that my boundaries are my responsibility but the reactions of those I set boundaries with isn't. Ultimately, people have the right to react however they want to, even if it makes things weird for a bit. It's hard and it's ongoing. If you're reading this and this is/was one of your goals too because I spoke about it last year, I definitely do think I oversimplified and it's a lot harder in practice than it is to speak about it as an abstract idea.
In the words of our Queen and saviour, Taylor Swift, I am just too soft for all of it. But we push on. Progress, not perfection. You got this <3
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