We made it! Welcome to 2024 friends. It’s officially New Year’s Revolutions month. 

Not a typo. Resolutions are for sissies. Revolutions are way more impactful and spinning around, circling the focal point, and closing the loop on all the uprisings is super satisfying! 

All the puns intended. 😜

Today is the first day of a new month and new year, but also happens to be Monday which means game day with my kids. No football, just board games and probably pizza. When my kids asked me what I wanted for Christmas, my answer was quality time with them, together. It helps that we all geek out about board games, even though they sometimes disagree on what to play. Today will probably involve Wingspan, Azul, and maybe Terraforming Mars. We are always drawn to Catan, but I also have several games we haven’t cracked open yet. One that’s US Post themed and some new spin on Exploding Kittens. We’ll see how the gang feels when they wake up. 

Until then, I have time to work, exercise, do some house chores, and think more about what I want for my life in 2024. It’s a big question, and like all big questions, I will probably slow roll it in my brain for a while before I come to any definitive conclusions. Here are some of the factors that play into this thinking: 

1. What’s realistic? Reflect on the past and recognize what kinds of things might fail because they are just too aggressive. Like writing a new poem every day. Once a week might be possible for first drafts.  But more than that, if I can produce one solid poem a month, that seems achievable. 
2. Maintaining balance is important. I can’t (or shouldn’t) set the expectation that I’ll send work to publishers every day. I didn’t set that goal for 2023, but it happened. On most days that I could have been reading or writing, I opted to research literary journals instead. This resulted in over 400 submissions and to be honest, it kind of took over my free time and was not healthy. I need to be reasonable. 
3. Focus effort on what I want. I said this already, that I need to figure that out. I would like to secure a contract for my next book (or books). I would like to lose those 5 pounds (now 7 after the New Year’s & weekend meals). I would like to reorganize and de-clutter some areas of the house. 

The trouble with trying to decide anything is that there’s not enough time in the day and something is going to win and something is going to lose. I can focus on the weight, like I did a little in 2023 but the cost was sacrificing the “reorg” task. The other problem with the weight thing is that results are not long-lasting if I don’t have a good maintenance plan. I’m pretty good at getting to a goal but then not regressing is an issue once I turn my attention elsewhere. To be fair, the reorg thing is always last on my list and every day there is something else that feels like a higher priority. Maybe that’s why people make resolutions, because they desire to change something about their behavior, and declaring it might make them more accountable. 

But again, something else has to give. 

Anyway, I’ve done enough round and round for one blog post about revolutions, so I think I’m gonna call it. Game day with the kids awaits!

Peace and Love for 2024,
~Miss SugarCookie