Unhappy New Year

So, it has been a while since I posted on here. There has been a lot of reasons as to why, however, the main stemming from my fear that nothing I write is good enough or will have any impact. Then I read a piece on how society has ruined hobbies. Nobody can just write for fun anymore. Anything you do you have to be able to monetise, capitalise off. It really hit home with me as I realised, I had stopped writing a lot because it wasn’t helping me achieve. I don’t even know what I want to achieve but I knew it wasn’t making the dosh so it mustn’t be helpful. But I love to write, so why does there have to be another reason to do so?

I wanted to write this piece because despite this time of year usually being filled with excitement, parties and family fun, I have been struggling to find the fun. I realise now that my Happy New Year may come a little later than 1st January 2020. And that is okay. There is no need to put a start date on happiness or change. I am working on myself every day in hopes that soon every morning I will wake up too Happy and it can come at any point in the year.

I have been focusing on my goals for the past month or so. Some of which I have been continuously working on and some I have used the 1st January as my starting point to mark my progress. I hope the new year will give me a symbolic kick up the butt and I will use these challenges to improve myself and my interests.

1. No Buy Year

Commencing 1st of January 2020 I will be participating in a ‘No-buy’ year. Nothing but essentials for an entire year, nothing but what I need. This is something I have wanted to do for a few years now but have made excuses as to why I am not able too.

This year I want to change that, in the hopes of bringing to the forefront what is important to me, save a bit of cash and also reduce the amount of production needed for me to consume consumables. I have defined the ‘No-buy’ year as it applies to me and won’t be following a list of someone else’s because what I consider a ‘need’ in my life may differ from someone else. I won’t be buying make-up, beauty products, clothes, home décor, books, plants (RIP) etc. However, some people take it further and don’t go on cinema dates, coffee dates etc, whereas personally I would much rather spend the money I have on things to experience with people and find this a ‘need’ in my social life, especially being at university. I also will purchase replacements like toothpaste or shampoo but can’t deter from what I am using currently, so no trying new products. I also excuse myself in this year when it comes to 3 main areas: My wedding, my work and my university study. Any equipment/ supplies I need to purchase for these events will be bought accordingly but won’t be taken advantage of in order to consume mindlessly.

I hope with this challenge I will be able to improve my relationship with shopping, as recently when I feel a bit sucky, retail therapy is there for me. I’d rather me be there for me.

2. Dry January

Depending on how good this goes maybe I’ll try the whole year sober (21st Birthday won’t appreciate it). But my relationship with alcohol has started to mirror my relationship with shopping. Feeling sucky? Glass of wine. Dog shit on the floor? WHO WANTS MARGERITA’S?

I don’t seem to be able to consume alcohol in a way that benefits my health, my mind and my relationships and going dry for a bit is the only solution I can have to further assess my thoughts and feelings.

3. Goodbye Social Media?

Seems weird to be posting a blog post through my Instagram and be saying, he dudes ats me I’m away here. But maybe? I have very poor self-control when it comes to reducing my social media intake. Especially when it comes to YouTube and Instagram. So, I hope to soon reduce my intake time to only using Instagram when I am posting and never watching YouTube videos? Maybe?

4. READ MORE

With reducing my social media, I hope to read more. Write more. Reading always makes me feel stimulated in the best way. I feel calmer, more focused, yet entertained at the same time. However, it isn’t as easy as scrolling mindlessly so sometimes I opt for my phone. I have a stack of books I need to tackle and with a goal of 24 books for year, I need to get cracking on that!

I hope everyone has a Happy “when-ever you are reading this.” Happiness isn’t exclusive to New Year’s and neither is new beginnings, new goals and a new life. Do what you can to make this next year the best it can be.