Show & Tell: New Year, New Outlook

It's hard to believe we are almost through the first month of the new year, but as I post this, there are only 3 days left in January.  For Show & Tell this month, we decided to look forward to the new year and how we want to meet it.  

It must be green

From Lisa:

Obviously, a new year doesn’t magically reset the slate and start everything anew, but there is a sort of magic in having a whole new year laid out in front of you.  I don’t do resolutions, but I do try and choose a few points in the year that I want to focus on and how best to make sure they come to fruition.  In past years this has mostly meant planning for vacations or big purchases I know I will need to make during the year and how I’ll save for them, but this year I am more focused on things much closer to home.  

One of the things I’ve been most excited about since moving into an actual house with a yard is the ability to have a garden.   I’m not a huge flower person (although I will be planting some bee and hummingbird friendly varieties) but I have always wanted a small veggie garden.   I have been practicing with houseplants and I’ve kept a nice collection going inside to show I’ve gotten better at keeping green things alive, so this month I’m taking the jump and starting up some seedlings and getting my raised bed garden going.   

I have seeds that I’ve been growing inside starting to send up shoots, and I am looking at the planting and harvesting calendars for my area so that I can make the most of the one bed I have.   It’s something that will keep me busy all year long, and I am excited to jump into a new year of learning and growing some of my own food.  

Creative thinking

From Ami:

We’ve talked some in the past about the things that we accomplished and that went right in 2020, and there was a lot! But, there was also a lot of downtime. Sometimes this was because there was nothing to do, with restrictions and lockdowns. Sometimes, it was just because we were so mentally exhausted that all we could manage was binging Netflix.
Around the first of the year this year, I was having a conversation with a friend about how I tend to look at and share a lot of things on the internet. Mainly, I share photos, videos and articles of people doing things that I find interesting, creative, funny, or extraordinary. In this conversation I made the unofficial new years resolution that I would spend less time sharing those things, and more time doing some interesting and creative things of my own. 

I have some big hopes, like spending more time outside/hiking/exploring, learning new hobbies or skills, etc. First on the table, though, is more creative writing. When I was a kid you couldn’t tear me away from my journal of poetry and short stories, but as I’ve grown older I’m more apt to consume stories than create them. This year, that changes!

I kicked off the beginnings of a story that I’ve had milling in my head for a few years now, and it feels great to be creating again! It may turn into something, or may not. In all likelihood it will just be for my personal enjoyment. But, all in all, I look forward to a 2021 of creation over consumption. 

To sleep, perchance to dream 

From Corey:

This theme is exactly what I need, know what I mean? The new year arrived, and for various reasons related to the pandemic, it felt like any other night. I did everything I could to ring in 2021, but in these challenging times the best solution has been to remind myself regularly that the year has changed, and it’s ok to adopt that “start anew” feeling. 

In the interest of keeping it simple, my New-Year-New-Outlook is accompanied by an action: Calm. For me, 2021 is the year I begin meditating and learning mental exercises to relax. Calm App has been sitting on my phone since July. Truth is, I opened it only a handful of times in 2020. Since Jan 1, 2021, I have opened it once a day. 

The meditations are awesome, but the real fun for me begins at bedtime. With the start of 2021, I began listening to the Sleep Stories. I crawl into bed, make sure the lights are out, and hit play on some of the most relaxing storytelling I’ve heard since kindergarten. I fall asleep with a smile, and wake up well rested. In 2021, I am experiencing the value of taking actions toward a sense of stillness, getting solid relaxing sleep, and already discovering improvements in the way I tackle everything in front of me day after day. Thank you Calm App, for leading the way on my new outlook in this new year.

"My destination is no longer a place, rather a new way of seeing"

~Marcel Proust

So what is your new outlook for 2021?