Musings on the year past & the year to come
Christmas is almost here! This time of year leads me to think about the year I have had and the year to come. I am not a big fan of setting goals. I am also not that good at ACTUALLY sitting down and thinking through the year. Thoughts will come and go as I go about my day as to what I accomplished, what I wish I would have done or not done, what I want to focus on next year, or how I want next year to feel.
During the summer I started each month thinking of a few things I wanted to focus on during that month. That has proven to be a better way to go about “goals” for me. If you are like me and the thought of planning out a year of specific goals sends you into a tailspin, let me encourage you to give FOCUSING a try instead. This word seems to be a bit more gentle and less demanding. And if I don’t accomplish it, no biggie. I can either modify it, delete it and move on, or move it to next month. I know, I know… sounds a lot like a goal. But to me it seems less scary and more freeing.
Here are some examples of things I have focused on over the past few months:
30 days of doing small art30 days of cards (I think I ended up with over 120 cards)
Filling a small sketchbook with black and white art
10 minutes of yoga a day
Different activities with our family (hiking, beaches, movies, outings, games)
25 sketches ( I am trying to get better at drawing)
Going into 2026 I think I will continue this practice. It doesn’t take long. It seems less daunting and it’s very relevant to what is currently going on in my life; what I need, what I am interested in, and how much time I have. I also heard another artist, Helen Wells, share the idea of making a list that says: MORE/ LESS/ START/ STOP. This can be done any time of year! And all you do is list under the different headings things you would like to do more of or less of and then things you want to stop doing or start doing. These don’t have to be physical tasks either! They can be feelings; how you want your life to feel. More JOY, less fear. Start being grateful, stop whining. You get the idea.
One BIG thing that crept up towards the end of the year for me was social media. I have a love hate relationship with it. It’s fun to see more inspiration, but it’s also draining to see so much information. I decided to step back from it in Oct for a few days. That lead to a few weeks. I realized I didn’t miss it. It created space to read more, create more and just be ME! So I put lots of parameters around it to be very limiting to how I use it. That has been a game changer for me. I’ve had space to try some new things in the art world. More sketching, new art supplies, an online art class, new art forms, all the things. If you have had similar thoughts around socials, consider taking a break and seeing how you feel. See what it opens up for you? You might give yourself that space for much needed creativity. And that’s why we are all here, right?
Along those lines I am hoping to use this blog and my newsletter more next year. (I’ve been saying that a lot, so fingers crossed I do it.) I hope you continue to follow along with me here! Happy Holidays!