Happy New Year!

New Years should be on a Friday every year.  It was amazing to have vacation before and after the 1st.  It felt like I started the year off calm and didn't have to rush back to work right after watching the ball drop.  My off time was spent cleaning, organizing and creating a fresh slate in my home.  This may sound like the worst way to spend vacation time but I found to be almost meditative.  I did a bunch of random dusting/cleaning that I don't do that often, like washing the curtains.  I went through my closet and dropped off a bunch at the consignment shop.  Also, I went through my bookshelf and collected a bunch of books that I need to bring to the library to donate.

But something that really made me feel that all the work was worth it was finishing off a bunch of little tasks. Just finishing projects that were half done lifted such a weight off the back of my mind.  I hung shelves in the bathroom that I bought months ago.  I tacked down my sewing table.  I fixed the zippers on my everyday bag so they don't snag my yarn (How-to to come).  A bunch of those little to-dos that you are reminded need to get done every time you walk into a room.  Every time I had to move stuff around the bathroom because I hadn't put up the shelves remind me that I had to-do that wasn't checked off yet.  While that seems small, I think those daily little reminders of unfinished projects is taxing.  Finally checking them off put me at ease.  Now when I walk in the bathroom I see an accomplishment instead of failure.

This year I didn't make any resolutions.  Everything I've read about making habits and resolutions always involve planning for this future time that cannot be controlled.  Making a list of things "I should do....", those promises for the future feel like things to add to my mental baggage/to-do list and most likely ideas that will set me up for failure.  Why should I set myself up? Instead I started the year setting myself up for accomplishments by actively controlling what I can do in the space around me.  It was freeing.

Happy New Year!