January. The Monday of the year.
I don't mean that in a bad way, I like mondays: back to routine, time to myself (even if it is work time), a blank slate full of opportunity and good intentions.
In terms of aspirations I'm going with a similar approach to last year — throw everything at the wall and see what sticks — but in a more focused way. I'm scheduling things on a weekly / monthly basis and I'm giving priority to the objectives that are most achievable and valuable.
You'd hope for a strong start in week one, and I think I've made one.
New journal
I've been sitting on this limited edition Leuchtturm book for about 10 months and I was glad to get into it. I have a notion of carrying the aesthetic into the contents by using a restricted pallette of red and military olive for any color I use.
I'm already getting some dreams recorded in red watercolor pencil and diary comic moments.
Reduced phone use
I'm not claiming total success here, but I am trying to resist browsing Mastodon as soon as I wake up. Instead I'm reaching for the journal and as mentioned above.
The word "synergy" has been mocked a lot as an example of start-up jargon, but it's definitely an important part of success when it comes to how I structure my life.
Comics thick and fast
I have a bunch of minicomic pages finished — maybe 15? which is almost enough for 2 issues. Admittedly a lot of these are from last year, but I'm not going to get bogged down in details. The point is, I have a mass of work that puts me well ahead of my objective (12 issues in the year) and that represents a certain level of momentum.
Some ideas I'd like to try:
- watercolor pencils for the wash stage
- non-minicomic format? extract from journal?
- phograph crappy drafts and finish digitally
Touched the cello
This is kind of a stretch since I only sat and tuned it and did a few of the very simplest execises from my starter book, but hey, maybe that's what I need to do. Maybe it's more valuable to sit and do basic exercises regularly than aspire to anyting more.
Writing that down has made me realise it's probably a really good idea. I can probably commit to playing the cello every day if it just means spending 20 minutes doing something simple and mechanical.
Incremental diet improvement
Another one I'm not too proud of since I've not done as well as I'd hoped, but still worth mentioning.
I've been back on the rice bowls, rostis, chopped carrot and apple, boiled eggs and smoked mackeral for protein, and all padded out with cucumber, broccoli etc.
It's hard to be austere in January after several weeks of wanton crapulence!
Classical music
A late entry into my aspiration list, cultivating an appreciation of classical music is a bit of an outlier in terms of a) how much I want it b) how likely it is.
But on a Christmas commute we heard a trailer for Radio 3's Classical Fix podcast, whose mission statement is 100% on-point for me.
So this is another doomscrolling replacemement for mornings, and I'm trying to work the playlist suggestions I like into soundtracks for other activities (cooking, running, bathing). SEE HOW THE SYNERGY WORKS?!
New handheld
Ordering an Anbernic RG35xx plus is definitely not something I'm proud of, but I was obsessing over this thing and decided that if I bought it on sale (£54) I could stop that. A self-serving rationale, I know.
Thing is, my son got a Miyoo Mini+ from Santa, and although I don't care for the feel of that particular device, it made me feel the lack of a cheap, reliable, wifi-enabled handheld that I don't need to micromanage the battery state for.
My RG35xx still doesn't boot half the time, after all, can't use Pico-8 in any meaningful way, and I did get it free in the end because it was faulty. Right?
ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE ME
END