Modern World vs Natural World – New Year’s Resolutions

So it probably seems quite strange for me to be talking about New Year’s Resolutions in March. Seems a little late, right? Especially coming from someone who regularly does end-of-year wrap-ups, and sets priorities and goals for the new year in the form of birthday posts (although I did miss my turning 34 post).

But this is an intentional post (mostly). Although I did plan to write this a few weeks ago, prior to even ringing in the new year, I knew that my approach to the new year would be different and I wanted to do my best to articulate it here. I’m still not sure I’m going to be able to properly say what I’m thinking, this may easily turn into a word vomit post, but those seem to resonate the most with people, and if I put this off any longer the post will seem out of place. (Plus, I’m just in the mood to write, and I think I need to take advantage of that if I have any hope of bringing this blog back to life.)

So what do I want to say? What’s the point of this post and my rambling…I’m getting there.

Last year I was very much MIA from this blog and basically abandoned my social media/personal brand aspirations. As I’ve mentioned several times over my most recent posts, last year (and the year prior), was spent rediscovering myself, figuring out who I am, what makes me happy, what I want to pursue, and what I want to become.

I dyed my hair. I got my nose ring back. I started going to concerts again and having more fun in fashion.

I spent a lot of time exploring hobbies and activities, but I also started exploring a more spiritual side. And, although compared to previous years, I sadly spent a lot less time hiking and camping, that spiritual exploration meant reconnecting with what has always felt the most “true” to me, nature.

Now before I keep going let’s get this out of the way. I know nothing. Anything I say, in this post especially, is just how I feel. What I’m doing. What feels right to me. I also want to say, I’m not religious. I didn’t grow up in any form of church, but I did study a lot of religion in college (almost enough for a double major). Growing up I was always told what I believe is personal to me and doesn’t need to make sense to anyone else.

So what makes sense to me?

The earth, the moon, the rain. You get the picture. Nature. And as I reflect back on my life, the natural world has always been what has felt the most spiritual and magical to me. It’s always made the most sense. So over the past year or so, I started leaning into that. I’m still early on my journey to what this looks like and what this means, and it will probably bleed into here eventually (this is where I’m supposed to come to figure life out), but for now, that’s all I really have to say on that specifically.

So what does that have to do with my title? What does this have to do with why I’m talking about New Year’s resolutions three months into the year? You’ve made it, I’m finally going to make it all make sense…hopefully.

Making New Year’s resolutions in the middle of winter makes no sense! It’s dumb. It’s cold, the days are short, and everything is dead or hibernating. Winter is not the time to start new. It’s a time to relax, recharge, conserve your strength, and prepare for warmer months.

Now granted, this never occurred to me. Not until I started exploring ways to live my life more in alignment with the natural world. But now that I’ve made that connection, it makes so much more sense.

Spring time. Now. It’s this time of year when the days are getting longer and warmer. When plants are coming back to life and animals are waking up. Right now, this time of year is when the world is filled with new life, new energy, new opportunities. Now is when you should be making plans and resolutions. Now is the right time to pick up new habits and let go of old ones.

But (yes I’m not done yet), I’m also a person who lives in the modern world, participates in modern society, and I’m a sucker for fresh starts and new beginnings, so I couldn’t just skip New Years and ignore the “New Year! New Me!” mentality all around me.

So this year I decided to approach this entire quarter with a blended approach. In December as the new year approached I sat down and planned. I contemplated all the things I wanted in the new year – things I wanted to do and accomplish. New goals and habits! Things I wanted to let go of.

And I’ve used the last two or so months testing things out.

So what do I mean by testing things out, you may be wondering? Let me explain this by using an example that I have on my list and most people do too- workout more. Normally this would be my New Year’s resolution and that would mean that come January 1st (or the day after my birthday, depending on my mindset that year) I would start working out every day, and three weeks later I would have failed.

This year I’ve used the last couple of months to implement the things I want to do more of but test the best way to work them into my life. I tried working out daily, five times a week, with only one day off. Working out first thing in the morning, before lunch, or after dinner. Different versions of the habit I wanted to create, but with no pressure. It wasn’t the new year yet, I didn’t need to get it right.

Now of course even with a January 1st resolution you don’t need to get it right, you can test it out, change your mind, modify your goal, fail, and start over. I get that. But this was a mindset shift for me that has really made all the difference.

So what are my goals for this year?

Since I didn’t do a post about turning 34, and I do still need a place to house these goals, I guess I’ll share them here. Not a lot has changed as far as priorities go, so if you read my birthday posts in the past, as usual, a lot of them will seem repetitive. This year I want to…

• Read more, ideally one book per month.
• Go camping more.
• Start hiking again.
• Run a mile (I’m not a runner, a mile is a big deal for me).
• Create better, more consistent content and begin to monetize in some way one of my many platforms.
• Continue to grow my freelancing income.
• Get strong, eat right, and love my body.
• Start a side project.
• Learn to properly can food.
• Meditate daily.
• Hit my Garmin daily step goal or walk 10k steps per day (whichever is less).

And my intentions for the next year are (as usual) –

• to not be afraid to dream and chase those dreams.
• to be more intentional with my time.
• to slow down and be ok taking a pause.
• to focus on the good, live life with gratitude and positive energy, and less pessimism and negativity.
• to create memories and spend intentional time with family, friends, and all my loved ones. To build myself my true tribe of people.

As usual, besides my goals and resolutions for the year, I also created a bucket list for myself. That bucket list, rather than a list of goals I plan to accomplish, is a running list of fun and exciting things I want to try to do this year.

Cover image by Gosia K. from Pixabay