A New Year, A New Nap Schedule

WELCOME 2024!

I relish the rituals around the new year. Do you?

I love finding a new planner, setting it up, and writing all the birthdays and anniversaries of my favorite people and events.
(Okay, yes, I’ve had a new planner since September 20033, but now I get to USE it, and that excites me so much!)

Creating a new journal, in which the first page is a letter to my future self about my hopes, dreams, goals, and wishes for the next 365 days.

Cleaning the house, making donation piles, loading up the car, and making the donation.
Which is, in reality, making space in our life to breathe and not be so hemmed in by stuff.
How do we accumulate so much random stuff?
I swear I didn’t buy any of it; it just appeared.
In all sincerity, those two crates of records just showed up one day after some friends moved, and they proceeded to sit rent-free in my line of vision for MONTHS!!!
Guess where they are now??!
Not here!

The new year is a time of cleansing of stuff, data, and dirt, with a side of letting go of expectations and waking up in the early morning dewy dawn of possibility.
A new year and a clean slate, even if that’s not the reality of the situation, it’s a wonderful time to try on new ideas and, if needed, to pretend.

In the last few years, in addition to new planners, journals, and letters, I’ve added the ritual of making a list of things (i.e., bad habits, goals, attitudes, etc.) to leave behind.
I take it to the beach in the morning, and I burn that fucker into ash!

It’s cathartic and symbolic, and it feels WILD and GOOD!
(but I also love fire, so maybe don’t take my word on this one)

This year, I’ve added another ritual!
(Yes, I know, I know, with all these rituals, I will need to start three days before New Year’s Eve to complete all of the above in the coming years, but I’m 100% totally and fully on board and here for it).

This year, one of my favorite humans gifted me this gorgeous “The Live Your Values Deck.” It’s a box of cards illustrated by Lisa Condon and a little instruction booklet.
To “work” the deck, you go through and make three piles of the values you:
Pile #1. Care about.
Pile #2. Might-kinda-maybe care about.
Pile #3. Do not give a single flying figgy pudding about.

Then, the hard work begins. Of the care-about-pile, you have to choose only 10.
Woof.
On my first attempt, I was only able to get it down to 21.

These cards have been a 40,000-mega-watt Bat Signal in the night sky, shining a light on the areas of my life that I say are important to me but have not been a priority.

On the flip side, there are things that I feel like I should be doing, and seeing them in the “Flying Fig” pile allowed me to put those shoulds down and definitively say, “Those things are not for me and are none of my concern.”
Whooosh!
So much stress, just gone! POOF!
It was instantaneous and magical.

I will be interested to go through this exercise each year and see how the results change from year to year.

With my newly defined values in mind, in 2024, I solemnly swear to dedicate more time for naps, rest, and play.
**I will not feel guilty about laying in a damp towel in my bed, scrolling Instagram for 20 minutes after every shower.

I want to live in my sketchbook. And I imagine using it like it is as crucial to my life as water or air and taking it with me everywhere like a lovesick schoolgirl.

I want to invest more time in my education, specifically in the areas of art, art business, and personal growth.

And the big one - prioritizing my health and well-being.
I move my body daily, but I’ve known for some time now that I need to do more to care for my body. I need to be doing strength training to avoid injury, making it stronger and more fierce like a panther!
But not like a cougar.
That’s different.

Wish me luck in re-prioritizing my time spent in the new year, and I shall wish you the same whether you are pro or anti-resolution.

What are some of your favorite rituals?
Please share. I’m clearly open to adding new ones to my roster. And I’m clearly willing to start said rituals in September.

Happy New Year!
I wish you good madness, joy, love, peace, and time to create!

A foggy field on NYE morning, it was cold and damp, yet it was beautiful.