Hello February!
Hello to everything slowly waking up. Hello to long, yawning mornings and the return of golden daylight. Hello to the smell of water on the wind and the feeling of warmth on my skin, if only the smallest touch. Hello to melting chocolate, warm pink hearts and opening letters, to licking envelopes, rainy grey skies and maybe, just maybe the promise of spring.
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January was a quiet month for me - something that I needed to start the year off. It mostly involved testing out a bunch of things I wanted to do; with varying degrees of success. I think that giving myself a month to ‘screw up’ instead of setting these huge, lofty goals (and inevitably failing at them because, let’s be honest, we’re not robots) was probably the smartest move I’ve made in a while.
So for February, I’m hoping to cement a lot of these habits in to my life, and just start sharing more of myself here and on other parts of the internet. I’ve developed a system for tracking my goals - I’ll share it later on in the month, but it consists of me assigning points to all the different tasks - when I do something, I get points I fill in. Simple, easy, fun.
Although there’s also a bunch of smaller goals, here’s what’s in store for February:
Clean myself and the house more often.
I’m alright with mess. I’m already with looking like a mess. That doesn’t mean either of these things makes me feel good in any way - I’m just capable of dealing with them both. But honestly nothing gets me out of the dumps more than picking up the house, organizing, and then hopping in the shower. The act of cleaning seems to set some really powerful energy in motion. I want more of that.
Explore a few new places in the city.
I love Montreal, and I love exploring the city. Winter tends to put a damper on my joy of going out - it’s very hard to enjoy a stroll around the city when it’s driving snow or freezing cold outside. BUT! I’m going to try and explore at least two new places in the city, be it a restaurant, a building, a new experience. I’m hoping I can find some new favourite places.
Learn, try some new things, and learn some more
Between completing my first french course, reading five books, writing daily, and trying a few new art-related things, I’m going to be learning a bunch of new things in February. I’m also hoping to apply to University again, and hopefully start getting on track with my degree again. We’ll see - I might even be able to fit some sort of dance class in there!
Make an art piece + collect my portfolio
My art is scattered all over the place, in my house, and also halfway across the country. I’m hoping to get my portfolio collected and sorted this month, partly for applying for university, and partly just so I can see all my art gathered in one place and feel good about it (and myself). I’m also hoping to work through a large-scale art piece from start to finish. And of course, document the process so I can talk about it!
Make writing and tea-drinking a daily habit
One of the most valuable things I do every year is Nanowrimo. Sitting down and making writing a daily practice is one of the greatest feelings. I have never felt more creative, more productive, and been able to see tangible growth and progress than when I’m writing a target of words every day. Couple that with a good cup of tea (and hopefully dipping in to our TOO LARGE stash of teas) and I’m hoping I’ll have two new daily habits to add to my growing list.
Take care of the body and mind
Through a daily goal of at least 5 minutes of exercise (no rules as to what it is, although I’m hoping to do some heavier exercise this month by finally signing up at the YMCA), as well as spending a bit of time every day to meditate and stretch my body, I want to take better care of my body and my mind. Because I have the chance to do that, this month, so I might as well take it!
What are your goals for the month? Do you any unique methods of keeping track of your goals, or any system you use? I also keep a page in my bullet journal tracking my goals! Let me know in the comments!
