1 Out of 33: 30 Day Creative Challenge

One of my first challenges last year was a 30 day selfie challenge. I like 30 day challenges because it is cool to see what you can accomplish in a defined period of time.  For August I did a 30 day creative challenge based loosely off of one I found on Connection to Creative.

I spent a little time everyday working on a craft, gift, or writing.  Will this be a daily part of my life?  Probably not.  Writing is and I hope to keep it that way.  I love crafting, but it isn't a passion for me the way that writing is.  I want it to be part of my life more though and this challenge was a nice way to jump start that.

This Year's Theme

In my last post I talked about my theme for last year's challenge which was balance.  While balance is something I'll always be working on I wanted this year to have it's own theme and overarching challenge.  There are many things I thought about doing and who knows I may use some of these during a future year.

The one I ultimately chose, hit me by accident.  I was at the dollar store buying craft supplies and they had 2015 calendars out.  I had no intention of getting a calendar.  We still have several months left to go in 2014, I tend to get at least one wall calendar as a holiday gift every year, and I am such a convert to digital tools that I gave up things like paper calendars and planners a couple years back.  However there was one that stuck out to me.

There was one with different doors from all over the world and different quotes mostly around doors opening.  I purchased it...hey it was only a buck...and am using it not as a calendar, but as inspiration for this year.  Is my theme doors?  No.  These images and quotes got me thinking though.  In most areas of my life I'm an optimist, especially when it comes to my friends.  If I had a role in life it would be the cheerleader.  I'm an encourager and I try to be as supportive as possible...to others.  I really stink at doing this for myself.  I see challenges in my own life as roadblocks and when things don't work out the way I had hoped it would I just see doors slamming in my face.  What I want to work on this year is seeing the closed doors as opportunities not failures.  When the door closes on one possibility another one opens it.  I need to take a step back and recognize what options I really have in these situations and if there are opportunities that may be better than the original path I was taking.

Photo by Riccardo Cuppini 

So that is this year's theme and partially why I'm choosing not to have preset achievements.  Let's see where the year goes.

“She knocked and waited, because when the door was opened from within, it had the potential to lead someplace quite different.” -Laini Taylor 

33 Before 33

I started this blog around New Year's Day as an alternative to a New Year's resolution.  I'm not big on New Year's resolutions.  In my past experience I tend to set some lofty goal (usually weight loss related), I'm diligent for about two weeks, and then when I realize it is impossible to achieve I give up and feel like crap about myself.

32 before 32 was a great experience.  I had eight months (it was a little rushed because I started in January instead of August) to complete 32 things I wanted to.  I approached it by having a mix prescribed goals to hit and some unexpected ones that came out of where the year took me.  I also had an overarching theme of balance.

What I learned from this experience was that I loved the spontaneous accomplishments more than premeditated ones and that the overarching theme for the year was helpful.  Balance is a life long challenge for all of us and something that I always need to keep in perspective, but for 33 before 33 I've decided a new theme is in order...more on that soon.  I've also decided to not prescribe any specific achievements and to instead see where this year takes me.  33 before 33 here we go.

32 Out of 32 Celebrate My Birthday

This might seem like a silly and almost self centered thing, but celebrating my birthday has taken on a new meaning for me.  I love celebrating other people's birthdays, but never really cared that much about my own.  When I started this blog I mentioned that my mom passed away a few days before my 30th birthday.  What I didn't mention was that her funeral was on my 30th birthday.

It has become really important to me that my birthday not be this sad day that I don't look forward to each year.  Instead I wanted it to be something to celebrate.  Spending time with the people in my life who are either my family or are now family by extension is the best gift I could ask for.  Sometimes I feel like a little lost girl and when I see the messages and cards from people far away and experience the hugs and and conversations with friends near by I'm reminded that I'm not alone and I'm actually the luckiest girl in the world.

This year has been a crazy journey towards balance.  Is it over?  Of course not.  Balance is always in flux and something to strive for.  It is something I will continue to work on, but on to another year and another set of challenges.  I'm looking forward to what 33 before 33 has to offer.

31 Out of 32: Learn a New Skill

I've mentioned Skillshare in a number of my other posts.  Besides brushing up on old skills it has also been helpful for learning some new ones.  I really wanted to take a class to learn about html coding.  It is something that I wanted to learn for work.  I'm not a developer so the extent of my html knowledge has been simple codes that I can easily copy and paste when I'm launching a project, but I wanted to expand my understanding.

I built a simple portfolio site for myself.  It isn't elegant or complex, but it was a great way to start learning about something that seemed daunting that in fact wasn't as complicated as I anticipated it would be.  I can't wait to see what I'm going to learn next year!

Photo by Marjan Krebelj 

30 Out of 32: Disconnect

I know that I recently wrote about reconnecting , but equally important is disconnecting.  I know it seems like these too things contradict one another, but this I think they complement one another.  After all I said this was the year of balance.  By disconnecting I mean two things.

1. Taking time to unplug.  I  like most people am so dependent on technology for work and my personal life.  I've been forcing myself to take time everyday to do activities the require me to log off: working out, meditating, crafting, etc.  I've found that this helps me clear my head and remember there is this big, wonderful world outside of the internet.

2. Making sure I have me time.  My life gets busy between work, hanging with friends, networking, and dating.  I often would find myself with weeks where I never had any down time for me.  I've made an effort to make sure I at least get one day of me time.  It isn't always easy.  It often means turing down plans, but I do this to keep balanced and I find it helps me prevent myself from burning out on the other facets of my life.

29 out of 32: Flying Trapeze School

I have a bucket list of adventure experiences that I would eventually like to try.  Some are more low key like anti gravity yoga and having a ride in a hot air ballon.  Others are more high adrenaline, things like sky diving and zip lining.  This year I did one that was sort of in the middle-trapeze school!

It was terrifying at first, you forget you are in a harness and that there is a net below you.  It was also a really hard work out.  I did this last week and my muscles are still sore (most likely because they are ones I don't often use).  However the experience was totally worth it.  Oddly enough my favorite step was letting go and falling.  Falling should be scary, but I was making the choice when I was ready to let go so I felt in control.  It is an experience I'd like to have again.

28 Out of 32: Have 1000 LinkedIn Connections

This was one of those surprise milestones.  I noticed I was close to 1000 connections on LinkedIn and thought it would be a fun challenge this summer to see if through networking I could hit that milestone. I'm pleased to say I have 1002 prior to the big 32 so I met this challenge.  It may not be the most exciting achievement, but it has given me a boost about my confidence in networking.

Photo by Office Now 

27 out of 32: Start Pitching Articles Again

I used to write a lot more often than I do now.  I really miss it and want to go back to it.  I recently took some time to not just write but write with the purpose of sending things out.  I got a good response and even may have an essay published in September/October.

I was nervous because I hadn't been disciplined about it lately and thought I wouldn't remember how to pitch, but it was like riding a bicycle.  I don't want to fall into the bad habit of not keeping up with this so in addition to having to write for 30 minutes everyday, I also have a pitching plan.  I am making sure that each week I take time to craft pieces to send out and find publications to pitch to so I'm sending out four pieces a month.  We'll see what happens and if this leads to more writing opportunities for me, but for now it is just good to be doing something I enjoy again.

Photo by Pedro Simoes

26 Out of 32: Budget

I live in one of the most expensive cities in the world.  It isn't easy when you have student loans and a fixed income.  I have to admit I'm often envious of friends who can take multiple vacations abroad each year, have endless shopping sprees, and seem unburdened because their parents help them with things like rent, cell phone bills, etc.

But never having that luxury has forced me to be responsible for myself and my own finances.  I have a 401K but would like to be able to have more saved for both the future and in my current savings.  Some people call that a rainy day fund, I refer to it as Shit Hits the Fan account.  Hopefully I never have to deal with a medical emergency, sudden job loss, family crisis, etc but I want to be prepared if I do.  I also want to have more money for the fun things in life I want to do.

How do I get there though?  Prioritizing!  I downloaded Mint which is a great budgeting app.  I want to track where I am spending my money, where I can make cuts, and figure out what my priorities are so I know were to spend and where to save.  This is step one in something that will be a larger project over the next year...that's right already thinking about 33 before 33.  :O

Photo by doctorwonder

25 Out of 32: Reconnecting

I'm very lucky because I have friends all over the place.  I've lived in four different places and have friends in all of those cities still as well as friends who have moved to other places.  One of the hardest things has been maintaining friendships when you no longer live in the same place.  I've also found as I get older and my work life has become a bigger priority it has also become harder to find time for friends who do live in NYC too.

Photo by Billy Brown 

In the past few months I've made a concerted effort to reconnect.  I'm not a big emailer or texter...call me old fashioned. So I've been working on reconnecting in other ways.  Once a week I've other been getting together with a friend in the area who I haven't seen in a long time or calling a friend from out of town.  This may not seem like a big deal, but my friendships are the most important thing in my life and I don't want to let any of them lapse.

24 out of 32: Finding a Writing Routine

One of my goals that I felt I was failing at all year was finding a writing routine.  I would try blocking off a particular time or day and it always felt that life was getting in the way.  I kept coming up with excuses of why a routine wouldn't work for me, but then found that I got no writing done.  I decided to do the simplest thing possible as part of my larger getting organized process.  I scheduled in my daily to do list that I have to write for 30 minutes.  It doesn't matter when and it doesn't matter what, but I have to write for 30 minutes minimum a day.  It feels great when I'm able to surpass that goal, but it is small enough of a goal for me to know that I can always meet it.  Maybe I'll have a loftier writing routine in the future, but for now this works.

Photo by Gregory Wake 

Getting Lost

I'm reading a book right now that I can't put down.  It's called A Field Guide to Getting Lost .  I'm a fan of the author Rebecca Solnit and loved her book Wanderlust which is an overview on the history of walking.  In her book that I'm reading now she talks about walking again, but more in the form of getting lost.  I've always been a fan of exploring without an agenda and destination in mind.  She talks about that in the book, but also talks about loosing things and loosing people.

I've lost a lot of people that I've been close to over the course of my life so far and what she says on this really resonated with me.  She talks about how when you loose something or someone it is different than being physically lost.  You know where you are, but something is missing.  Even though I'm in my thirties not having a parental figure to turn when I could really use one makes me feel like a child. Sometimes it feels like there is a big void and nothing and no one can fill it.  If I were to be completely honest with myself I think a part of being so comfortable with being single is in part not wanting to get too close to anyone because I'm a little worried that I'll loose them too.  For as extraverted as I come across I keep really deep feelings and fears bottled up inside me even from my closest friends.

Photo by Brilho De Conta 

But I don't want fears and past sadnesses to dictate my future or create barriers between myself and the people I care most about.  I'm wrapping up my 32 before 32 and will soon be planning out 33 before 33...gulp, but this idea of opening up more is something that I feel will be a part of next year's challenge.  In her book Sonit also says, "Loosing things is about the familiar falling away, getting lost is about the unfamiliar appearing."  That may sound scary, but it also leads to the possibility of something wonderful and unexpected happening.

23 Out of 32: Learn to Meditate

Meditation is something that I've always been a little leery about to be honest.  There are so many types of meditation and I always assumed you needed to subscribe to Hinduism or Buddhism if you went to a meditation center to learn.  However as I have been looking for more balance this year the thought of meditating has been more appealing.

Photo by Talon Kasmai 

I found a center that uses Buddhist meditation practices, but waters it down for beginners.  You don't need to be a Buddhist or know anything about Buddhist philosophy to participate.  It is all about three things: 1. Posture, 2. Breathing, 3. Getting back on track if you get distracted.  Meditation is not easy and I get distracted with other thoughts easily, but I want to try to make this a simple 10 minute a day practice.  Will this change me and lead to more balance and less stress?  I have no idea, but I'm willing to try.  

22 Out of 32: Purging My Closet

I am terrible about spring cleaning.  I always think I'm going to do it, but never get around to it.  I decided this year to tackle it one task at a time to get what I could done.  I started with my closet.  I suffer from that common problem that most women have which is a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear.  I am a pack rat when it comes to such things I find excuses to hang onto to clothes that I don't really wear anymore: "That's too big now but what if I gain weight", "That needs to be taken in, but I'll get around to it," etc.

I have been a big fan of Jesse Garza and Joe Lupo and if I had disposable income I would hire their visual therapy services to do a closet/style consult.  Since that isn't my life I read their books.  In their first book Nothing to Wear  they break down cleaning out a closest into the simplest terms I could ever think of: Does it Fit, Does it Look Good on You, Do You Like It, and if the answer is no to any one of those questions you get rid of it.  Which is what I did.  Now I have a closet that only contains clothes that I love to wear.

Photo by LizMarie 

21 Out of 32: Get Organized

I mentioned in an earlier post taking a Skillshare class.  I've recently taken some more and in the middle of taking some others.  I mostly wanted to brush up on some computer programs and skills that I'm using more frequently such as html, keynote, and photoshop.  I'm also taking some more classes to brush up on my writing skills.

The one class that I have recently completed and has been more helpful than I imaged is one on productivity.  I have always been really good at making sure I leave the work week with everything all tied up.  The problem is I would work an insane amount of hours to get everything done.  Earlier this year I made a better work life balance effort and got myself to a point where I wasn't working crazy hours everyday and still producing work I was proud of.  I wanted to take it to the next level and find a way to get not just the priority things done, but the things that mean a lot to me in my personal and professional life.

Photo by Claire

Having things like to do lists and filing systems aren't my style.  I'm spontaneous by nature and am not a big fan of schedules.  The older I get the more I find myself depending on schedules especially for social things like getting together with friends.  The days of being bored on a random Saturday and packing up with some friends on a last minute road trip seem to be over.  I feel I end up booking plans weeks in advance because that's how we all operate now.  But there are some advantages to scheduling and tracking everything.

I've found that writing things down on a to do list gets them out of my head so I stress less about feeling like I have to remember everything.  Scheduling has helped me be able to map things out better and find open spaces to fill with spontaneous things and flights of fancy.  I get what I need to do done so I have more time to do what I want to do.  Another small step, but it makes life a bit less chaotic.