I began to prepare this post over a week ago and guess what... I ended up getting incredibly sick with the flu to start off 2018... but at least I got it out of the way, hopefully!! Fingers crossed! This year my resolutions look a lot like my resolutions from a couple years ago (see my New Year, New Me & New Blog post to compare), it's actually kind of funny how similar they are. But that can't be too bad because 2016 was the best year here on the blog, in terms of my activity level at least, to date! Hopefully I can surpass that this year; I've entered my 5th year of doing the blog so it has to be good! But in addition to having a more productive year on the blog, I really want this to be a year of self improvement in so many other ways, too! Similar to 2016 I want to create more art, live a healthier lifestyle and get back into shape (typical but I mean it), and just try to be an even better, more generous, thoughtful person.
BLOG
As I mentioned, I'm in my 5th year of the blog, and I really want to make it something great and something to be proud of when I celebrate my 5 year anniversary! It's not that I am not proud of what I've done so far, I am very (over 47,000 subscribers on YouTube alone so far), but I know that it could be better. I suppose anything you do can always be better, you can always improve, so this will be something that I'm always working on, I guess. But, basically, this year I just want to have more posts for you all, and be more consistent with those posts. Consistency takes practice when you work for yourself and work from home.
In 2016 I did a complete overhaul of this blog--which always helps with trying to turn a new leaf because it feels fresh and exciting--but this year I think I'll try to hold off on a whole new look (it's only been 2 years), and perhaps just try to improve the layout a bit to something more modern.
ART
This has been a continuous struggle for me - making time in my life for my art. If any of you are regular followers then you may know that I attended post-secondary art school. It's been nearly 14 years since I graduated and I should have a huge portfolio to show of my work since then, but I don't because... well... life... and a little fear of failure. That's a terrible excuse as an artist, but that's it. I've continued to create art very casually since graduating (check out some of my art here), but recently I've had a real itch to dive into starting a real art career--which has been my ultimate long term goal for a while--and that is so exciting! The past several months it's just been burning inside of me; I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos by some very inspiring artists, and it's gotten me so motivated to get going. That's why I've made a resolution this year to do one piece of art per month! I can do more, but at least one per month. I don't want to put too much pressure on myself at first, so I'm starting out slow. Even though I've been an artist for a long time, I have a lot of practicing and learning to do before I really can call myself a professional artist. I've had a lot of practice and training drawing along with some watercolour painting, so I plan to continue to practice those, along with Oil and Acrylics, which I started teaching myself, here and there, the past couple years. I also intend to start loosening up, which, ironically, is much more difficult than realistic drawing and painting, especially for someone so focused on detail! I've gotten 2 oil study pieces completed already this month (pictured below, I'll link time lapses once posted), although they are small, I'm off to an encouraging start! Also, these are the types of things I am posting over on instagram first, so come follow me on instagram!
HEALTH
I know, so many people set a goal of getting in shape in the New Year, ha ha, but I really need to. Since V and I moved to Calgary 9 years ago--whoa!--I've slowly gained close to 20 pounds; definitely 20 pounds since we've became a couple 11 years ago! It's beginning to look unflattering on my small frame, unfortunately, and it's beginning to affect my mood and self-esteem quite a bit. The first few pounds weren't a huge deal--although no one wants to gain weight... unless they are unhealthy, that is--but at this point, if you think about the fact that if I continue to do nothing about it, and gain weight at the same rate for another 10 years, that'll be 40 pounds! And how will I feel then? I bet not very good, and probably not very healthy! I'd like to concentrate on being healthier and feeling better about my appearance, and not how small I can get, because I don't, necessarily, feel the need to be as small as I was, I just need to feel better in my body and in my clothes! I've always loved fashion, and makeup, and wearing different hairstyles, but recently I've mostly felt disappointed with all of these things. So I need to get back to feeling better, that's what's important!
PERSONAL
A lot of my personal goals for the year will make room for me to do better with all of the above mentioned areas that I want to work on in 2018. First, you may have heard me mention in the past how important scheduling is to keeping on track, especially when working for yourself, so I want to continue to improve in that area so that I can keep up with my posting schedule as much as possible! Second, I want to watch less TV this year... we watch quite a lot around here, and I'm sure a lot of you are in the same boat, especially since the PVR has become a common household item; so handy, but so easy to over-do it! And now with streaming services like Netflix, well there's an endless amount of programming to watch. All. The. Time. Binge watching anyone? So I've decided to cancel our scheduled recordings for a lot of shows that are just "whatever" shows that we do enjoy watching when we catch them, but really wouldn't miss them if we couldn't watch them anymore. Watching less TV means more time in my life for practicing my art and doing other things that I enjoy, or we enjoy doing together, exercising, getting outdoors, and working on household projects! Third, I want to work on being a better person in general. I do consider myself to be a pretty good person with a good heart that cares for others, who tries her best to do onto others..., but I know there are a lot of ways and areas where I can improve myself. There always are!
So those are most of the things I plan to work on through 2018, and beyond, and I'm really excited to make this 5th year working on The Creative Glow a fantastic year! What about you? Have you resolved to do or not do certain things in the New Year? I'd love to hear what your goals are! Happy New Year, once again, everyone, and I'll see you in the next post!
Sam ♡
So those are most of the things I plan to work on through 2018, and beyond, and I'm really excited to make this 5th year working on The Creative Glow a fantastic year! What about you? Have you resolved to do or not do certain things in the New Year? I'd love to hear what your goals are! Happy New Year, once again, everyone, and I'll see you in the next post!
Sam ♡
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