These aren’t really resolutions but a list of things I want to focus on or achieve in 2021. Maybe some are a bit resolution-ish but I won’t hold it against them. Some are just hopes and dreams because who knows if the state of the world will allow us to follow through but if you know me at all, you know I can’t help but be hopeful.
Get as many people in my family vaccinated as soon as possible. If I haven’t made my position clear, I am pro-vax. I’ll take all the vaccinations you offer. I will vaccinate myself in a back alley. Yay, science!
Write before Netflix. Even if it is just five minutes of stream-of-thought nonsense in a journal, write something before turning on the nightly Netflix.
Register Poppy for kindergarten because apparently they let tiny infant babies attend school now.
Read 20 books. I didn’t make it this year but I’m going to give it another shot.
Visit Vancouver Island. It feels like tempting fate by planning to travel but this one falls into the 100% wishful category. My hope is that by summer the vaccination program and the warmer weather help our numbers drop enough to allow us to travel in our province.
Continue going to physio and seeing the pain specialist to figure out how to reverse the shenanigans in my neck caused by my thyroid surgeries. This one feels a bit delicate because I only recently discovered the neck stuff but I plan to write more about it to try to process it.
Blog more about food? The question mark was a keyboard mis-strike but I’m keeping it because it feels right.
Visit 25 new-to-us locations (parks, hikes, etc.) in beautiful British Columbia. There is so much of our province we haven’t seen and now is the perfect time to remedy that. Even with our current orders to restrict travel outside our health authority, we have so much opportunity to discover new spots. I’m really excited about this goal and I hope we stick with it.
Buy proper grownup kitchen knives. I love to cook. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I am still using a basic, not-great-quality set of knives I bought more than ten years ago.
Get stronger. This isn’t about getting a smaller body or seeing a certain number on the scale. This is about feeling strong and stable in my core. It’s about going to bed without a heating pad. It’s about supporting my bones because the odds are stacked against them. 2020 was the year I learned how to engage my transverse abdominis and I’m hoping 2021 is the year I manage to do one true, non-anchored sit-up.
Rent a banjo. Learn to play.
Swear less. Look, we’re a sweary family but Poppy is starting kindergarten next fall and she swears like a sailor. We need to help set her up for success by making swearing less common in our vocabulary. This might not be achievable but acknowledging the problem is the first step in fixing it, right?
Stretch daily.
Send more handwritten cards and letters.
Get a professional haircut. I had a haircut scheduled for March 2020 which I had to cancel because my kids had the stomach flu. The following week the province shut down. My hair has never been this long and it is driving me bananas. I am getting very close to cutting my own hair but common sense has prevented me from attempting it thus far.
Get a marble pothos to add to my plant collection.
Meal plan weekly. Yes, it’s boring but it makes the week less stressful and means we throw out less food and do takeout less frequently. Get the kids involved in planning our meals.
Reorganize and decorate the front entranceway. The closet is packed with stuff no one uses. The pictures are dumb. The area is cluttered. It’s dark and dim and unwelcoming.
Do not buy any skincare or makeup until I use the stuff I already have (unless a specific need arises and I don’t have a product that will suffice). I get distracted by new products and abandon things half-used. I want to stop buying skincare and makeup products unless I genuinely need them and will use them.
Either figure out how to refinish the mangled tops of our bedside tables or buy new bedside tables.
Start a family gratitude jar to help cultivate a gratitude practice with the kids.
Are you making resolutions or a “21 for 2021” list this year?