Happy New Year!
The start of another year always has me reflecting on the 12 months that was and thinking about the 12 months ahead…
2018 brought some monumental changes to my life – Adam and I settled back into life in Australia, after our time in the U.K. and with that came re-setting up our house, diving back into my career, and reconnecting with old and making new friends. We planned and successfully held our wedding, deep in the English countryside in the dying days of autumn. We lost loved ones, missed our friends and family back in Worcestershire and had both had challenges and tough days on the work front. On the flipside, we welcomed international visitors to our Wagga Wagga home, had wonderful holidays and kicked some personal goals.
2019 feels strangely open. Unlike previous years, there’s no big event already planned. 2015 was the year of buying a house, 2016 was the year of planning and moving to England. 2017 was the year of visa applications and adventures abroad and 2018 was the year we wed. 2019 feels a bit like an empty book – which for list-making, organised planner like myself – is a little daunting.
A few weeks ago, I read a blog post by Jessica, which talked about not setting goals for the new year, but instead finding a word and using that a guiding principal for the next 365 days. It really resonated with me, so after many hours of thought I’ve come up with my own words for 2019: calm.
- To keep calm, even though I feel anxious about not having a ‘project’ I can control for the year ahead.
- To practice calm, through activities that make me feel good like gardening, reading, rambling and yoga.
- To create calm, by stepping away from the people, places or circumstances that stress me out and bog me down (even if it is just for five minutes).
So here’s to finding the calm in the everyday, to letting calmness shape my thoughts and decisions, and to spreading calm to those around me.
Have a wonderful weekend. x
P.S.- From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for ongoing thoughts and contributions to this little space. I’d love to know what you’d like to see more/less of over the next year – recipes/fashion/beauty/home projects and decor/travel?
Please let me know!
Wattle and Ash 
1. Happy New Year.
2. It seems like you’ve had busy couple of years.
3. Calm seems like a great fit for you now after the recent years.
4.I like your travel related posts a lot, but there is nothing negative that I have to say about any part of your blogging.
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Hey Goldie! Happy New Year to you too. Thanks so much for the feedback on my content, I really appreciate it. As you can probably tell, I love traveling and sharing my experiences too, so I’m so glad that’s something you’d like to see maintained. Happy Friday! 😊
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I can feel the weekend. Have a great one!
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I like the serendipitous approach of your posts that cover a range of topics that are both thoughtful, informative and at times whimsical. For my two cents worth don’t hem yourself in with limiting your topics.
Nel and myself have magnetic scrabble letters which we place on the fridge that outline our goals for the coming year, such as travel, declutter and so forth. This year we have interwoven grateful and trust as the two personal goals.
We picked trust as we want to believe the world is not that bad a place. That we will trust our decisions, we trust each other to have our best interests at heart. We actively want to avoid being cynical. We think trust will allow us to be happier, healthier and maintain a good outlook on life.
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Happy New Year Larry! Thank you, as always, for your thoughtful responses. Adam and I use magnetic tiles to plan our meals for the week, but I love that your goals are there to see in such plain sight every day. Best of luck with your intentions in 2019. I think we could all be a little more grateful and trusting. Have a fabulous Sunday!
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