Once again, it’s been some time since I last made a post (I really need to be more consistent with my blog). So much has happened. Last month I went home to Maryland for Christmas and had some quality time with my family for over three weeks. I received a hammock, a camping stove, and a pair of rollerblades for Christmas. I watched Die Hard (my favorite action and Christmas movie) over five times. I visited Amish country with my mom and gathered ideas for a picture book while there. Many of my friends and neighbors came over for holiday parties. I reconnected with high school friends, and one of them recently got engaged. So much has happened.
2020 started off with a bang. I’ve already read over ten new books. I spent some charming day trips for my job in Charlotte, North Carolina and Washington DC. I’m working on new illustrations. I’m coloring in a storyboard. This past weekend I went to the Roanoke Regional Writer’s Conference and learned all about the writing and publishing industry. I saw some new films and am getting deeper into podcasts. The Australian Open is on TV. My sister paid for my membership to SCBWI (more on that in a future blog). So much has happened!
It’s nice to sit back and reflect on what I’ve done so far in the new decade and to look ahead at what is yet to come. A lot of people have emphasized the new year as one with vision and purpose (2020 vision, so original). Normally I’m not one for resolutions as I find them trivial and unsubstantial. How many people say they’re going to do something in early January only to fall short of it within a few weeks, or even a few days? And I’m one of them. But I do have goals in mind for myself, not necessarily because it’s a new year or new decade, but because I am at a phase in my life where I want to tackle some challenges. Call it my quarter-life adrenalin rush.
So I’m looking forward to traveling more. To finishing that work (or works)-in-progress. To polishing my website and improving both my illustration and writing portfolio and to getting involved with SCBWI. I want to go to more writing and illustrating conferences. I want to pay off student debt while leaving room for financial freedom. I want to be more outgoing and make an effort to simply do more. It’s so easy for us introverts to get comfortable in ourselves and in our creativity. But I think it’d be a great personal challenge to stretch beyond my comfort zone. Anybody else with any reachable goals for themselves? I love making goals, writing them down, and sharing them with others. And of course it’s reassuring to find a kindred spirit in one’s search for success.