New Year, Same Me: Things to Do in 2022

I am not a "New Years Resolution" person. In my teen years and early twenties, I would make them and fail miserably by about the third week of January. As is the grand tradition. I am also not a fan of "New Year, New Me", because the change from one calendar year to the next does not make a profound difference on my physiology or mentality. Why would it?

Instead of setting myself difficult and unquantifiable tasks that ultimately lead to failure, I like to set goals for the year. Things I'd like to do. Things that if I don't immediately start doing them January first it doesn't matter. Things that I can track in my bujo and keep up to date with my progress. Quantifiable and realistic things.

That's what I shall be waffling about today - with a nice scattering of pics from my bujo.

Find an exercise I like.

Now this is one I have been banging on about for quite some time. But after an episode triggered by not fitting nicely into any of my dresses, it's really time to get off my ass and do something about it. Sure, I can just buy new dresses - which I did - but I would also like the health benefits of exercise. In so many ways, I try to be body positive about myself. I never really have conformed to social norms, so why should my attitude towards my body be any different?

Sadly, it is much more complicated than that. However, getting the clothes that fit right is going a long way to me feeling better in my skin. But I would still like to get my stamina back to where it was, not get out of breath tidying, and all that jazz. Yoga has been great for my flexibility but it's not exactly a cardio, sweat-inducing exercise. Certainly not the way I do it. I am done with forcing myself to run - I only ever enjoyed it when I was slimmer/three cup sizes smaller. Between my dodgey calves and basoomas, I am clearly not built to run.

So what does that leave me? I'd love to get back into dancing - it was something I really enjoyed as a kid. I keep my eyes peeled for mention of a class on Facebook. Alternatively, I could join the gym again? Whatever I choose there will be a tracker page to go with it!

Get back in the water.

Between Covid and shitty self image, I have not been in the water since 2019. I think the last time I dived was at Capernwray and I had a breakdown because I accidentally dropped a cylinder, which dented as a result. At the time, I was hesitant to get in the pool because I didn't feel good enough to be there despite just qualifying as a Sport Diver. I had no job, I was getting podgey - I did not want to be seen. Then the pandemic hit and everything closed.

The pool reopened this year - Human has been an active member of the dive club and committee. But even after getting double jabbed (and now boosted!), I have still been hesitant. Swimming pools are a cess pit for germs, for one thing. Then there is the ever gnawing worry that I have forgotten everything. So I am taking a slow and gentle approach to getting back in the water. The details need working out, but I've got plenty of time before dive season.

Finish one book a month.

My reading habits are terrible. I will binge read about four books in the space of a week and then not pick up whichever book I got halfway through for at least a month. Quite often I will return to a book remembering nothing of the first half. So every year I will try a reading goal and always over estimate my attention for reading. Last year I tried to do an alphabet prompt list. Whilst I probably did read close to 26 books last year, I did not stick to the prompt list. This year I have scaled it back and am aiming to start and finish one book each month.

Currently, I have about a third left of the book I am reading so this will be started pretty soon, I reckon. In theory, it won't take me the full month to finish a book so I will likely read more than intended. Which can only be a good thing. My TBR and borrowed book shelf needs tackling!

Play a new piano piece bimonthly.

Going for the basic "practise piano more" goal was never going to work. I would religiously practise every day for a week, miss it one day, and then not play again for months. Is how I do. But adding that I have to start a new piece every two months is what I'm hoping will be that motivating factor to build better habits. Plus, it's a nice goal to work towards, getting confident with a new piece in a lengthy time frame. Currently working on Aerith's Theme from FF7.

Set up my crafting area and decorate the spare room.

I have really missed having a dedicated crafting area. Ever since we got the study up and running, the spare room where I was working from home has become a dumping ground. Decorating bits we can't quite commit to putting in the loft, despite not having decorated for months; things that don't quite have a home yet; stuff that needs to go in the part of the garage we can't reach presently. You know exactly the crap I mean. Plus, since October, it has had all our decorations dumped in there too. Our Hallowe'en and Christmas decs live in the same storage box - why put it back in the loft when we're only going to get it down a month later?

Because I want to sew, lazy brain! I have lots of coin bags to make for the games I have amassed. There's an endless supply of stuffing for pillows thanks to Hello Fresh boxes just begging to be turned into something. I do have a desk in my office that I can use, but it's where I spend 9 hours a day, 5 days a week working, so it's hard to sit there when I don't have it. Plus, it is stupidly tiny - genuinely a child's desk which I cannot even fit my chair under. A new desk is en route, but I'm not going to want to glue and such on that!

Therefore, the spare room needs to be de-spared. Remove the clutter, dump the furniture that we're clearly not going to be able to use in there, and make it a useable space again. I would like to decorate it all the colours, but that might not be practical. Although, the wallpaper has peeled itself off on the one wall... But yes, make it a space that can be used and not just as a dumping ground! There's no time frame on that one, but it could just take a weekend. One I need to ruminate on. Plus, I need to figure out what crap is in there!

Make that tasty vegan cheese!

Whilst I am not doing veganuary, I won't shy away from vegan food. To be fair, we cook a pretty even mix of vegan/vegetarian/meat-based meals. I am already so fussy, I don't want to limit my intake further! There is one dish that I have been threatening to make for years. I have genuinely lost count of how many times I have lost the recipe. "Dish" is a strong word. It's a vegan cheese wheel dipped in herbs, and it is heckin' lush. I know it involves cashews and nutritional yeast, but I have yet to find an excuse to make it where I seriously take the recipe, write it down, and make the damn non-cheese. Maybe my birthday? I could do a cheese board with brie, the vegan cheese, and some other third one. That's an option!

Try recipes from my new cookbook collection.

Humble Bundle is a dangerous website, but boy do I love it so! Recently, they had a collection of cookbooks - including geeky cookbooks! - which I was powerless to resist. Nevermind the whole ruck I have on my bookshelf. Instead of letting these books languish too, I have set myself the goal to have a go. We've scaled back the Hello Fresh boxes, which was the other way we were getting new recipes in our repertoire, as they were getting a little samey. We'll get the boxes occasionally, but in the mean time I have a whole load of nerdy recipes to try. Lambas bread anyone?

What things would you like to do in 2022? Inspired by any of mine? Got any suggestions to help me achieve mine? Drop a comment below :) And happy new year, guys! I'm not going to tempt fate by saying 2022 can't be more of a trainwreck than 2021/0... But make what you can of it be amazing.