So this is Christmas - and what have you done??
As the end of 2021 draws near, many of us might be taking the time to reflect on the year gone by.
The stop-starts of the last two years makes them seem like one gloopy mess; like a melted chocolate bar we’re lapping up from the creases as best we can. With that lovely analogy in mind, it’s easy to question ‘what have I actually done?’
And with stories of dream careers or businesses launches scattered across social media, it’s easy to look on others’ happily-ever-afters as some kind of fine-tuned Hollywood montage sequence. I also, if you can’t tell, watched A LOT of movies over the past two years. And, while we’re on the subject, I notice studious, writerly types seem to be central to a lot of romance flicks.
My own efforts to make use of my furlough time did involve the publishing of a handful of articles thanks to a kind editor who took a chance on me. And since then, I’ve managed to publish a few more. But, affordable-on-a-writer’s-wage rural cottage with hunky next-door bachelor aside, I have a long way to go to being a fully-fledged freelancer – an aspiration I had long before we were knee-deep in lockdown.
From around age six or seven I actually wanted to be a novelist. But since I’m passed the weary ‘JK Rowling was 31 when Harry Potter got published’ threshold, I’ve come to terms this is my ‘everyone needs a dream’ dream. But admittedly, having something published – you know, like wot other people have actually read, is not a bad start.
It’s easy to look at others’ successes and feel like we’re at the very bottom of a ginormous mountain while they’re prancing about the summit like Julie Andrews. But it’s important to remember their journey will have been far from smooth – they just don’t post the grisly bits on social media.
And everyone learns and grows at different paces - take it from someone who took eight years to pass a driving test and then another two to actually start driving. Absurdity aside, the important thing is what seemed unimaginable at first eventually became a reality I never thought possible – something I remind myself of daily.
I would encourage anyone who feels like they’re tackling the impossible to take some time out and take stock of what changes or achievements they HAVE made, no matter how small.
So instead of writing yet ANOTHER to-do list, try a ‘have done’ list:
- Make a list of times you have felt proud of yourself in the last year – seriously we Brits don’t self-praise enough!
- Don’t shy away from any accomplishments – it could be as big as moving house or as little as clearing out the Tupperware cupboard.
- Think of how these changes made you feel or have impacted your life.
- Remember everything counts. That poem or journal entry you scrawled in the back of a notebook – How did it make you feel? Did you connect with a sense of self?
- Include a reminder of accomplishments you’ve achieved or hurdles you’ve overcome throughout your life - how long did it take to get there? And how did they impact you or your family for the better?
And if you must fulfill that nagging urge to cross things off, why not make a new list of steps you feel might naturally follow what you’ve achieved in the last year? And remember they don’t have to be big! With a new year on the horizon, and a well-timed new moon on its second day, there’s no better time – we’ve got this!
