HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!
Hi all!! I hope everyone reading this had a decent christmas and new year celebration (and if you chilled out like I did, I hope it was pleasant!) If you are a close friend or family member, you probably know I have been doing the Project 365 challenge on Instagram for the last 36 days! I did start early, but for some reason I felt like if I didn’t start during December, I would completely forget to do it for the new year (like my younger brother did! Yes, I’m calling you out.)
I have two challenges I want to stick to this year that are my top priority, and a couple others that aren’t as important. I’ve also started my sixth quarter in college, and all ten weeks are going to be jam-packed with five classes Monday through Thursday 8:30am till 5pm, and I’ll be waking up at 6am every morning… 🫠Thankfully, on Friday’s I don’t have to go to class until 12:30pm.
New Quarter, New Me (Bottom Priorities)
My less-important priorities are for minor betterment. I want to wear makeup and fun-style earrings more often! And I have been, but I’m not going to feel bad about it or think I look bad for forgetting or being too lazy. I am also going to try to hold myself somewhat accountable for learning outside of school; This includes learning Spanish, getting better at understanding and writing code, and learning about data structures.
I have also been (as I mentioned) posting to Instagram everyday for the Project 365 challenge. This isn’t typically important, but it is helping me be more present in my life and the lives of people that want to know me. For the last couple days, I’ve had to quickly take a random snapshot of something unimportant to my day, simply because I keep doomscrolling on TikTok and Instagram reels. I took a look at my watch-time on Tiktok, and my average for December is around 3.5 hours (at least one full week could be put together of days spent 5 hours on Tiktok alone), and I can feel my brain slowly rotting. I want to do better, I want better for myself, and I want to be present in my own life. I don’t want to spend my days sitting on my couch drowning in my phone. I’m hoping the end result will be my going out with friends, on dates with my husband, and spending time outdoors with camping, hiking, or even just sitting in a park while I read or crochet.
Resolutions, Or Whatever (Top Priorities)
Sooo there’s a reading challenge I found via ‘jananie’ called The Anti-Brain-Rot Challenge!! It’s based around building consistency, forming your own opinions, and consuming media mindfully. Here are all the rules of this challenge:
Building Consistency
Rule 1 : Read for at least one 45 minute session per day, where you (optionally) annotate what you read. This includes physical books, e-books, and audio books. This helps you hit that mindful consumption goal!
Rule 2 : Read at least one article or essay per month on any topic that interests you. These can be academic essays, news articles, or even a blog like this one! For advanced challengers, you can read one article or essay per week!
Rule 3 : Read at least one book by a BIPOC author for every book you read by a white author.
Mindfully Consume Media
Rule 4 : Read at least one book from the following 10 genre’s:
- Literary fiction
- Historical fiction
- Fantasy
- Science Fiction
- Horror
- Romance
- Classic
- History or Political
- Science
- Memoir or Biography
Rule 5 : Read at least one book from the following 4 formats:
- A play
- A graphic novel
- An anthology or short story collection
- A translated book
Rule 6 : Read at least one book from each of the following 10 categories:
- A book with a queer main character
- A book with a disability representation
- A book by an author NOT from North America
- A book by a black author who is alive
- A book by an indigenous author
- A book by a SWANA (Southwest Asian and North African) author
- A book by a latin author
- A book by an east Asian author that is not Chinese, Japanese, or Korean
- A book by a south Asian author who is not Indian
Thankfully, each requirement doesn’t have to match each individual book, we can have multiple requirements in one book! That will make this challenge much less daunting!
Thinking Critically / Forming Your Own Opinions
Rule 7 : Create your own critical media journal: write down notes or reviews on each book you read, each movie or show you watch, and each article or essay you read. I will be doing this here, and (if I have a lot to say) I may make a whole blog post about my reviews!
The other big thing I want to prioritize this year is excersize. I want to not only grow a phat ass (lol) but I want functional strength. I want my hips to support me better and not hurt from simply walking, and I especially want stronger shoulders that don’t crack and pop with every movement, and I want to be able to lift almost anything above my shoulders (which, the heaviest things I can lift right now are my 10lb cats).
I also found this guy David (movementwithdavid on IG) whose favorite excersize is functional movement and stretches! I have a few videos of his that are based around the hips, arms, and shoulders and how to keep them mobile and strong. I definitely plan on referencing his content as needed for my workouts! My main goal for working out is to avoid any severe decline in my mobility. I want to be the old lady who struts around the park with flare, instead of the old lady who has been relying on a walker since the moment she turned 75.
I encourage you to find attainable goals for yourself! Whether it’s a small or large change, any positive change is GOOD!
Anywho, I gotta pay attention in class. TTFN!! 😃