This past year has sent so many changes my way. Good changes, mind you! It started off rough but it ended in such a splendid way! This year, I greeted 2016 with my family watching fireworks in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Moving here was a huge change but one which has improved so many things in our lives. I absolutely love our new home!
The process during the move has been a learning experience for me as well as a period of growth. I did my best to plan and accommodate for the move (writing extra blog posts ahead of time, scheduling a month off from the DigiScrapGeek Podcast). I really did. Delays happened and my plans failed. I could use those delays as an excuse (and I guess in part I am) for not keeping up with the blog and missing podcast recordings. Instead, I am choosing to use them as a lesson to me. Sometimes you just have to let life happen and go with it. Sometimes you can't plan. Sometimes promises can't be kept and so it's better not to make them.
In thinking about my upcoming plans for 2016, I realized that I just need to relax a bit more. I have a tendency to over plan and then get upset when things on the list aren't happening. The funny thing is that pretty much nobody ever sees that list except for me(though there are times I refer to specific projects in newsletter or blog posts). I kind of view each item on those lists as if they are a promise to myself. And who are we often hardest on? Yep, ourselves. Some parts of the list I am good about shuffling about without guilt and others not so much. This year, I plan to be more realistic with what I can accomplish.
What does this mean for My Scrapbook Evolution? I do plan to have an editorial calendar. I am not going to share it publicly( because then I feel like I fail you if I don't deliver X article on X date). I do have a list of articles and tutorials to write. I will write and write often but I also give myself permission to rest and not stress out about the schedule. Schedules can be adjusted. I have a lot of dreams and projects I want to realize. I want to share them with all of you. However, I need to let them unfold as they will, focusing on one at a time, so that they can become real. It's not much different in many ways than what I have done in the past. It's just that as each year goes on, I get a little better at being realistic about what I can accomplish.
Above is a picture of my cat sitting on my planner. She is reminding me to put down the pen, to stop making lists, and to either rest or just go do something. I took this picture a few weeks back while trying to plan out the end of December and all of 2016. I ended up snuggling her awhile and taking a rest( which lasted several weeks and may or may not have involved worthless time trolling the interwebs). I haven't posted in weeks and guess what? The blog didn't explode or disappear. People kept coming to visit MSE. I took a bit of time to replenish myself from all the excitement and stress of my move. I am starting to feel my creative reserves are ready to be tapped once again.
I am not making any promises other than to say that I will be creative. I will share what I make with you and the DigiScrap Geek Podcast will be back soon.
Here is wishing all of us a wonderful 2016 full of creativity, dreams, and time with family and friends!
