I’m not going to lie, it’s really weird to talk about my word of the year a few months into the year.  Better late than never, after all.  But here we are, four months into the year, talking about what I want to focus on.

I really hope it goes better than last year, when my plan to embrace creativity fell apart.  After everything that happened last year, it was hard to focus on anything.  I mean, a pandemic, starting school and a lot of changes at work…it’s a wonder I was able to get anything done!

But that was last year!  It’s a new year and there’s plenty of time to get things done.

This year, I just want to learn! 

Being in school really helps with learning.  How could it not?  I feel like, being in school at 34, I have a much better idea of who I am, what I’m interested in, and why I’m there, compared to when I was in college right out of high school.  I want to take all of the things, because there are a lot of classes that sound absolutely cool, so it will be quite the assortment of classes.

And I know that they all fall into graduation requirements, but there are a lot of classes that I’ll probably take because I want to, and not just because I need to.  If I could be in school forever, I would!  I’d be that vampire with a ton of degrees, probably.

On a super random note, I finished an intercultural communications class recently, and I am really glad I took it!  I learned a lot about communication, especially about communicating with people from other cultures.  There are a couple of links I wanted to share, because they were really interesting to look at and go through.

One is a white privilege check.  While I wasn’t surprised that my answers were yes all the way down, I do know that I need to act, and not just think.  On a related note, taking these hidden biases tests were also really informative.  It’s a really good starting point to see how you’re biased, even though you don’t realize how you’re biased.

It is pretty vague, though.  A few months into the year, and I’m still not completely sure what it is I want to learn, and how I’m going to do it.  On the one hand, it’s going to be hard to focus on specific things because I can’t completely pinpoint what it is I want to learn.  I feel like not having some specific things to focus on will mean that I won’t have some starting points.  But I also like that it’s vague, because it leaves it open-ended.  If I find a rabbit-hole I want to go down, I will go down that rabbit-hole.

I don’t want to stress out over it, though.  I want it to be fun, not stressful.  I like learning!  It makes me happy to learn something new, and I get really excited when I learn something new.  So fun and natural, not forced and stressful.

There are a couple of things I specifically wanted to focus on this year:

1. I plan on reading at least one non-fiction book each month, and so far, I’m doing pretty good with that.  It’s a good starting point, and maybe I’ll actually read more than one non-fiction book a month.  I’m not ruling it out, but one is definitely manageable!  I have a ton of books to choose from too, so picking something new won’t be hard at all!
2. I also want to learn a new craft.  A few months into the year, and I still haven’t decided what that will be.  I could learn how to embroider, do cross-stitch, draw, paint, sew or knit.  The possibilities are endless, but a new craft would be fun, even if it’s not a permanent part of my life the way crochet is.  It could be, and I won’t know until I try.  I actually have to do, though, instead of thinking about it.

I’m excited about all of the possibilities- whether it’s from a book, from school, or something else entirely, it will be really nice to focus on something I really love.  The last year has really got me thinking about making learning a priority.

That’s all for today!

I’ll see you next time,