mattyblog

Another New Year's Eve

Today is the final day of an arduous year. I'm looking forward to a fresh one. For a lot of 2024 I was in survival mode and living every day in a very reactive way and without much focus on the important things in my life. It's been exhausting. There were some bright spots to be sure, but looking back at my time this year I can deeply feel the imbalance between brightness and the opposite. Finally though we've all made it through to the end. Hooray!

I don't want 2025 to be so reactive. I want to have some idea of what I'd like to focus on this year.

I've outlined several things I'm resolving to prioritize in 2025. More than anything, I'm prioritizing my health and happiness this year. I'm saying that out loud a second time: I am prioritizing my health and happiness. It's alright if not everything happens, but the most important thing is that I try to get out of this reactive head space and make some choices for myself. Below is a list of some of the things I've chosen to prioritize in 2025.

Develop an art practice 🎨

"Develop an art practice" sounds very serious and stuffy. All I mean is that I'd like making art to be part of my life. It's fine if I'm bad at it! I just want to do it. I'd like to try to fill a sketchbook this year, finish my mobile project which has been stalled for a while, try collage, and also try doing some pastel or gouache.

The important thing here is that I make some space in my days so I have the option to choose art.

Write some things down 📓

I started using little Field Notes notebooks the last year or so to keep track of things that need doing. It's been nice. Sometimes I will write some things down and then not look at the notebook again for a week (I have ADHD, lmao). Mostly though, it has been great. It feels great to fill one of these things up and then file it away in a box with the other filled up notebooks. It makes me feel like I've been busy doing something, which I think is a terribly underrated feeling.

I recently started a second notebook separate from my todo list notebook where I write down some thoughts about how I am feeling when I get worked up, pissed about work, annoyed by the dog, upset about loud road noise outside, etc. This has been very helpful as a tool to help me SLOW DOWN and acknowledge my feelings. Taking some notes about how I'm feeling helps me process through them. It's great. I don't always remember I have this tool available, though. I'd like to do this more often.

Listen to music 🎶

Until I got my iPod, I didn't really listen to much music in 2024! I was mostly doing podcasts while I was driving the car or doing chores. I didn't really have any music in the background. In years past when I worked in an office, I was listening to music easily 40 hours a week. I also played music really loud while I cooked food or just hung around my apartment. For whatever reason, maybe moving house or my mood changing, I largely stopped. I'm getting back into it though, and will continue to do so in the new year.

Play some music 🎸

I play the guitar a little bit, but not very well. I never developed a song repertoire, and instead spent most of my time with the instrument just goofing around after annoying work days. I learned a couple songs that I mostly stuck to, didn't practice purposefully, and would usually end up putting it down for several months before picking it up again and doing the same thing. I never really leveled up my playing. I'd like to get back into the habit of regular practice, and also learn songs that I can play confidently. I'd also like to make a point to really learn the notes on the instrument and maybe a little music theory. Years ago I took classical lessons for a couple months and it was really satisfying to know what you were playing.

Pet a horse 🐴

It is important to set realistic goals for yourself, I'm told! Petting a horse was a new year's resolution I told someone I had several years ago as a joke. Even though it started as a joke, several years later I never did it. I think horses are really cool animals, and I'd love to meet one and feed it an apple or something else a horse likes to eat. A trail ride would be really great.

Do yoga 🪷

I'm on the computer all the time for work, and at 35 I am really starting to pay the price. Wrist pain, back aches, neck stiffness - boy howdy, I've got it all. I've been saying for years that I'd like to start doing yoga to improve mobility and also mitigate all these weird issues caused by being sedentary all day. I'd like to start doing a little bit of yoga in the morning to help wake up, but also at night before bed to help me get relaxed before sleeping. It sucks feeling discomfort all the time, all day. Hopefully yoga will be helpful.

Read before bed 📖

Like many people these days, I habitually scroll on screens before bed. It isn't good for me. It keeps me up longer than I mean to be up, and it causes a lot of unneeded eye strain. I'd rather read a book. I've tried to get into bed a little earlier than usual with the dog and sit up with a book. It's going okay. Over the last month I read a couple books in the "southern reach" trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer. I am part way through the final book right now and enjoying it.

I think I would be very successful at reading before bed as long as I'm able to get into bed at a reasonable time when I'm not dead tired. Having good sleep hygiene is something I've struggled with the last year. Looking forward to getting into a book might be helpful there.

Take a trip out of town 🚆

I don't take a lot of vacations. I find the planning required to be extremely difficult and overwhelming. I'd like to practice that skill so I can enjoy traveling out of Chicago a bit this year. I don't think I left the state all of 2024.

Some places I'd like to go:

Enjoy a bonfire 🔥

I think the last bonfire I sat around might have been in 2022. Sitting around with your friends in front of a fire to me is one of life's greatest pleasures. I need a lot more of this in the new year.

Take some pictures 📸

I have a couple cameras stashed away in a closet. Both film cameras. I also have a fun little instax camera. I want to make some use of these in the new year! The two cameras I have are both film cameras. Film is a little bit annoying to deal with. It is expensive to send off to develop, and even more expensive if you want them to digitize it. I'm a real sucker for the shutter sounds those old cameras make though, so the price of entry may be worth it. It's kind of exciting not knowing exactly how your pictures will turn out until they're developed, too. I should post some pictures I've taken in the past sometime.

I've got a phone camera in my pocket nearly at all times, but I rarely take photos with it. I should take more photos with my phone too.

Ride my bike 🚲

Recently I wrote about how nice it felt to ride my bike when no one was around. I also talked about how little riding I did in 2024. When I got my bike the year before I rode it all over the place, almost every day. I got a little psyched out by car traffic and stopped riding. This year, I will ride more. It is good exercise, and it feels great to pedal around. Reminds me of being a kid.

That's all. Happy new year!

🌑🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑