Ahh, December, the last month of the year. We’re finally here and as usual it feels like it is slipping away from me all too quickly. Maybe it has something to do with that adage – the harder you try to hang on to something the quicker it slips from your grasp…
I always keep a journal but am constantly experimenting with the way in which I journal, the way in which I record, group, and keep time and events. My current journal has become a seasonal – fall – journal and going forward I will try (for at least one year) to keep a seasonal journal, meaning one notebook per season.
Anyway, this seasonal journal has really made me aware of how long into December fall goes. I’ve known this fact, of course, but somehow remaining in a physical journal that I cognitively know to be designated under the fall season makes this time of year feel like an odd in between time. My senses tell me it’s winter, as do all the Christmas and holiday decorations but my mind is keenly aware that it is still fall. I keep wanting to jump forward but feel pulled back.
Anyway…
An obvious truth that dawned on me in recent weeks is the importance of trying to achieve or at least make the most progress on yearly goals before Thanksgiving. I’ll maybe take it a step further and set my deadline for November 15th.
I’ve been noticing for a few years now that come October I am usually swept up by the magic of the season. It tends to be my most dreamy and creative time of year but then come the holidays which always obstruct me from making any significant progress on creative projects. That’s usually November/December. Then, as my luck would have it, January is also filled with festivities, mainly of the birthday kind. So then that month is also taken up by events which make it very hard to harness the energy and motivation of the new year and transmute it into actionable progress.
As we go into the new year I want to practice being more aware of these patterns so that I can make the most of my “open windows of opportunity.” I feel it may be helpful to have a more realistic sense of time so that I am not working against myself or feeling defeated when I don’t get as much done as I had hoped.
A secondary goal that I want to work on is what I am calling “recovery time.” Holidays and family events seem to have a large destabilizing impact on me. They take me out of “my zone” and can derail me from my goals/work for days or weeks on end. I don’t expect to change this behavioral response overnight but I would like to make some positive changes in the coming year.
My hope is that by growing my awareness of these issues and patterns I can learn to course correct. Ideally, it won’t take me as long to recover from the distractions caused by holidays or family events etc. this is what I mean by quicker recovery time – taking less time to refocus.
Life is full of chaos, twists and turns, and out of nowhere events (surprises). I don’t expect to change that but what I do hope is to change my response to external environmental factors that are beyond my control.
I am curious, do you, dear reader, practice self reflection toward the end of the year and set goals for the coming one?
If you do, what are some of the patterns you are noticing in your own life? What are some goals you are starting to formulate for yourself?
If you don’t, why is that?
Thanks so much for joining me today! I hope all is well on your end of the screen. Until next time!
xoxo,
Angelica Sophia
Angelica Sophia 
Leave a comment