Welcoming in a new year has an air of infinite possibilities about it. The slate is wiped clean, our troubles from the year before are swept under the rug, our triumphs looked back on fondly.
2023 I have to say was a rather awful year for me personally. My troubles are insignificant in the grand scheme of the world, but to me they were very significant and had a big impact. Safe to say, I am very glad to be saying sayonara to 2023 and look forward to the new year with my optimist pants pulled up way to high!
At the end of each year, I sit down and write my year in review. I look at what went well in my business, what didn’t do so great, what I enjoyed the most, and what I didn’t enjoy at all. I look back on all that I created, where I have been, who impacted me and what goals and intentions I achieved.
Once I have done all that, I pat myself on the back and give myself the grace to let go of what I need to to move on. Then I sit down and write out my goals and intentions for 2024.
This year I wrote down goals and intentions for me personally, for my business, for my creativity, for my home, and even for Matilda and Leo. I may have gone a bit over the top, and my lists are large! I am unapologetically and over achiever! Even though I set myself large lists, I am now able to let go of feeling like a failure when things don’t get done or don’t go according to plan…at least I’m trying hard to do that!
I think its important to set oneself goals and intentions, at least it’s important to me. Without setting them I feel lethargic and lost, like I have no purpose. Setting goals and intentions gives me something to focus on. I certainly have my moments of procrastination, when I completely abandon the plan or the list and go off on my merry way doing something completely different. This I believe is living a creative life at its truest. Being able to follow a whim because it feels right, rather than being regimented and always sticking to the plan, but then knowing at some point, you need to get back to the plan. Taking the side roads often create the most wonderous journeys.
I often choose a word to guide through the year ahead. I have skipped this the past couple of years, but after last year, I have decided to get back to this tradition. This year however, I have chosen three words: Joy, Release and Thrifty. I picked these words for very specific reasons all to do with the things that impacted me from 2023. I hope that with these words as my guide, this year will be better than the last.
Joy
Such a simple and sweet word don’t you think? Joy, I believe, will not just become my word for this year, but for all my years hence forth. Why shouldn’t we create joy in our lives? Everyone is entitled to it, and it is my greatest hope that we should all find it, every single person.
I find true, honest, innocent joy in many places. My stitching brings me incredible joy, as does drinking a soothing cup of tea, admiring flowers, and pottering in my garden. All these things I intend to do a lot of this year.
But joy can be found in simpler smaller ways also. Listening to morning bird song, chasing rainbows in the sky, the innocent giggling of children, a butterfly who comes down to greet you.
Objects can bring you joy also, and I have many that do this for me. Pretty floral fabric, vintage sheets and linens make me giddy with joy. As do bundles of beautiful threads, my vintage teacup collection, comforting quilts, and blankets. I have started to surround myself with these items that bring me joy. My teacups don’t just sit in the cupboard anymore unused, but are selected on a daily basis, making every cup of tea special and bringing me joy every time I take a sip.
The trick I want to master this year, is creating joyful moments during the more mundane aspects of daily life. Doing the dishes, cooking dinner, just generally all the household chores that need to be done. I intend to do these tasks with joyful intention and with gratitude. How lucky I am to be able to stand and do the dishes while looking out my window at my flowerpots and garden, an instant joy booster.
How blessed I am to have clothes I love and that speak to my personality, and how nice they look fluttering in the breeze on the clothesline. After every dusting and tidying chore I can play with my pretty objects, creating a beautiful and cozy home for myself and my family.
Release
Another way to look at this word is generally to just Let Go. Last year a lot of things weighed heavily on me mentally and emotionally. A lot of what weighed me down was out of my control. Cost of living, financial business pressures, family health concerns, and other peoples mental and emotional loads were all piled on top of me.
Much of this I was not able to control or find solutions to or fix. I found myself burying my own emotions down so that I could be strong for others, when really, I was crumbling inside. I felt like I was failing at fixing everything for everyone. I didn’t know what the solution was, and I still don’t.
This year I have chosen the word release to help me realize that I’m not responsible for everyone. I can’t fix everyone’s problems and I certainly can’t fix or control outside world influences.
I am ready now to release into the universe my troubles from last year. I release my stress, anxiety, and frustrations. I forgive those who have hurt me. I let go of the pain, sadness, and worries. I release the pressure, vices, and troubles of others, I release my own vices and troubles, and I release my emotions.
Thrifty
Last year I thoroughly enjoyed getting into thrift shopping, or as we call it here in Australia op shopping. I have always had a love for vintage items, China teacups, vases, crockery, cut glass and crystal items. I began collecting items for my ‘Glory Box’ way back in my teens when my parents and I would go out on weekend day trips to visit quaint towns and rummage through antique shops.
There is something almost whimsical about seeking out and finding vintage treasures, and I have amassed quite a collection, with no desire to stop adding more! I am now hunting out vintage sheets and fabric, doilies, and embroidered linens. I also look out for vintage patchwork quilts, crochet blankets, pincushions, sewing boxes and haberdashery.
Many of my thrifted items find a place in my home. Others get repurposed and made into items for my home or to sell. Others will form part of a curated selection that I will on-sell. One thing I think I need to start doing is an inventory list of all I have collected, how much I paid and what it’s intended use or purpose will be.
I chose Thrifty as a guiding word this year, because as I have just mentioned I love to seek out vintage treasures, but I don’t just seek them out because I love them, they suit my aesthetic and bring me joy, but because it is sustainable to do so. I am fast coming disillusioned with fast fashion and fast homewares. Don’t get me wrong, I love a great Kmart or Target bargain just like the next person. Coming from an Interior Design background, I love to shop the big furniture and homewares brands, and I think they do have their place.
I want to become more mindful with spending. I want to buy second hand clothes where I can for myself and my family. I want to source second hand furniture and items for my home and mix them with quality new made items that will last to create a personal aesthetic and a home with character.
I want to normalise giving handmade, homecooked and second-hand gifts for friends and family. I want to do this to help the environment, to help save money, but also because there is so much more life that these items can give.
I am ready for new beginnings. I allow grace, love, and joy to come into my heart and mind. I am ready to face any challenges, good and bad that come my way. I walk forward with positivity and optimism. I am ready for adventures, to let creativity flow through me. I will walk with my head high through this new year on a rainbow of happiness, skipping through fields of flowers. I will greet the darkness with strength and conviction and shower starlight onto to it. I will let my heart laugh and cry. I will let my spark shine brightly & I will wrap everyone in my love.
Wishing you a year full of joy, peace, love and of course, slow stitching.
Miss Leela x