A New Year, Many New Hopes

In the past couple of years, I find that I’ve been having a lot less to say than I used to. I don’t know why.

I’m usually outspoken, analytical, and a deep-thinker, and I used to write long posts about topics that mattered to me. I still think a lot and have a lot to say, but when I start writing a post, it all seems to go out the window.

It’s true that a lot has changed over these last couple of years. I got married, moved to an entire new country, am adjusting to handling everything on my own. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed.

So it should be totally understandable that I’ve kind of taken a hiatus from writing the way I used to write, but it’s been more than a year since we’ve moved, and I *know* that I’ve still been having a lot of thoughts and conversations in my brain that when I’m having them, I think, “I should blog about this!” When it comes time to actually write a post though, I come up blank.

Maybe it’s self-censorship, maybe I’m at a crossroads and am not sure which way I should turn…but I want to get back on the road. And I feel that the time to do it is now.

So I’m back. For real this time, and I’m going to be as honest and real as I can. With my fresh and minty subconscious. =)

Right now I’d like to start with what I hope to achieve this year. In no particular order, just as they come to me…some are really simple, mundane stuff, but hey, they’re all important to me.

First and foremost, I’m definitely going to finish my Master Herbalist program by August. I only have 3 and a half more courses to go, plus my practicum and a thesis, which shouldn’t be too hard to do. I’m looking forward to finally finishing my studies! It has been a long long loooonnngggg journey, let me tell you.

Secondly, surprisingly and shamefully, for someone who's studying herbs, I have absolutely no experience with growing plants. Ok, let’s be honest, there are a lot of herbalists out there who’ve never handled fresh plants, but only the pre-packaged herbs that they’ve ordered from some supplier. So maybe there’s no shame, but even if I wasn’t studying herbs, I would still really like to grow a garden of my own.

I feel a little apprehensive because not only do I need to learn about gardening, I also need to learn about gardening in a seasonal country, in Alberta weather. I come from a tropical country where it’s warm and rainy year round, so you can understand why I’m nervous.
 

However, I’m going to start small and simple, probably with a few hardy houseplants which would be hard for a beginner who means well to kill. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Thirdly, I’m going to organize the house and keep it really nice and clean. I mean it. It’s actually not too bad right now, it’s not like really messy or anything, it’s just disorganized and it’s a little difficult to work in when you can’t find anything. So I’m improving this situation and then we can all have a little less stress in our lives.

FROM
 
TO

Ok, so the first picture isn’t really what our house looks like, but you get the idea.

Fourthly, I will be taking my Alberta driving license written test in a couple of months. I’ve been driving for years before I moved here, but seeing as some of the traffic rules are different and Canadians drive on the wrong side of the road, I have to get my Alberta driving license. I’m just doing the written test for now, but let’s see how I feel after a few months of that. =)

Also, I can’t wait to get my work permit. I’m on my student permit for two years, but after I graduate this August, I’ll be able to work, if I want to. See, I’m not actually sure if I want to jump straight back into the working world or if I want to continue my studies for the Clinical Herbalist program, or perhaps, start my own business or something. I will be a Master Herbalist after I graduate, after all.

So the other I’ll have to do is figure out what I want to do as a career.

It shouldn’t be too hard. I pretty much know where my passions lie, but it’s just figuring out what’s most important and how I want to implement my work into my life. I’ll probably write a more detailed post on this later, when I’m more clear with what I want to do.

Cooking is something I want to improve on too. We’ve been eating a different diet since we moved, but I need to start planning healthy and delicious meals and allocating the time to cook them. We’ve been going the easy way, eating out, having frozen dinners… it’s not that bad, but it’s way off from what my ideal is. And hey, I’m a great cook when I do cook!

Another really important thing to me is reading, but there’s a catch. I read 114 books in 2011, so reading in itself isn’t actually a problem for me. What I read is.

I read too many story books and not enough non-fiction. It wouldn’t be a big deal, coz I do feel that reading is great habit, no matter what you read, but I *do* really want to read all those non-fiction books too!

The thing is, I borrow a whole bunch of books from the library, books that seem really interesting to me, non-fiction books, and then I borrow a few fiction too, you know, just to change it up. But fiction is always so much easier to read than non-fiction, so I think, hey, I’ll finish the storybooks first, then I’ll read the non-fiction.

Who would’ve thought that there’d be a disadvantage of having access to such a great library with tons of books at your disposal?

Every time I finish a storybook, I get more, and I never get to the non-fiction, which, dammit, I really want to read too! (Of course I know it’s my lack of self-discipline that’s the problem, but let’s just ignore that for a moment.)

So, this year, I have to figure a way of challenging myself to read more non-fiction. Another detailed post for later.

I’m also working on living more spiritually. Both my emotional and spiritual health is very important to me, and I feel that in a lot of ways, they are more important than physical health. But then again, I believe that they’re all definitely related, I just feel that emotional and spiritual health have more of an impact on physical health than the other way around.

There’s probably another post on this topic too, but I just wanted to write it down here for now.

Crafting is another thing I want to work on this year. I already crochet and knit, and 2011 was a very good knitting year, in that I only really started knitting in 2011, and I’ve since knitted socks, a sweater, a beret, shawls, and scarves. And they turned out really well too, for a first-timer!

I plan to buy a sewing machine and start sewing, as well as maybe think about some other simple crafts like jewellery making or something. I’m not sure yet, but I know that my crafting bones are ready and raring to go! It’s just the creative person inside of me, you know. I need to create things!

Last, but definitely not least, I want to work on my writing and my blogs. I know I need to write more. I’ve been feeling stuck, but now I feel like the writing juices are finally flowing again and I want to keep it that way.

I also need to figure out what I want to do with all my blogs. I have a lot, too many, and I’m not sure if I should keep them separated or merge them so it’s easier to handle them.

As you can see, my plans and goals are a work in progress, which is as it should be, I feel. I don’t think we should make all our plans at the beginning of the year and then stay stagnant for the rest of the year.

As the year progresses, so do we, and as we grow and change, so should our goals and ideals. For the better, of course.

So here’s to an interesting and progressive 2012! Whatever the plans, whatever the goals, I just know that there will be a lot of improvements this year.

I’ll keep you posted. =)