We’ve eaten all of the Christmas pudding, the turkey leftovers have been turned to soup and frozen and we’re out of champagne – 2015 is here!
I realise it is already halfway through January, but it feels like the new year has just started for us – we’ve had a succession of visitors and the last family member left yesterday. The guest sheets have now been washed and I have reclaimed the Girl Cave, so in keeping with the general tradition of the retrospective/goal setting first post of the new year, here goes!
2014 was a busy year for the Husband and I. We made separate trips to the UK to see family, visited 3/4 new places – Philippines, South Africa,Macau and Hong Kong (a repeat visit for me) and were lucky enough to have lots of our wonderful friends and family visit throughout the year, culminating in both sides of our family coming together for the first time ever for Christmas dinner – 9 adults and 2 kiddywinks, ages 14 months to 70!
Professionally, half the year felt a little bit like being in a waiting lounge since I knew in February that I would be leaving the lawyerly life behind to join our credit research team in September. I think I probably stopped working on new PE transactions in June, and thereafter it was lots of tying up of loose ends, clearing emails (oh the emails…) and trying to ensure I left behind good handover notes – no one wants to be That girl! On the creative front, I felt that my painting skills had a growth spurt over the course of the year. Although Project 48 wasn’t exactly a resounding success (but seeing as I subsequently decided to take exams and change jobs, I shall cut myself some slack :)) I did manage 24 projects in the end so depending on the curve perhaps I scraped a pass?
As I think I’ve said before, the idea of Project 48 was to try and make Making a fixture of daily life – i.e. elevate it to the status of tea and red wine, instead of something I did when I had spare time. Out of the 24 projects, I think my favourite projects were without a doubt my first original works – the giraffe and rhino paintings. After almost 5 years after my first introductory painting class, I feel like I have crossed some invisible line where it wouldn’t be entirely illegitimate to refer to myself as an artist, even if I might add the qualifier “weekend” in front. I kept to a steady schedule of roughly 6 hour-long weekend painting sessions until the final months of intensive revision had to kick in. I did go on the odd weekday, but generally I don’t like painting at night as I feel the studio lighting isn’t bright enough for my myopic eyes. Making more effort to have a specific plan for what I wanted to achieve at each studio session also made a difference. Of course, there were many days when things didn’t go quite to plan. Sometimes my colour-mixing mojo was absent and it was was two steps forward, three steps back. Sometimes my hands shook and I couldn’t get the level of precision I aspired to (Hint : I learnt that that fine, short handled brushes were essential). Sometimes the textures or shadows or contours just looked wrong. More importantly, taking the time to plan was a different approach from the days that I would turn up and spend the first 30 mins prepping and staring at my canvas trying to decide what to do. At the end of the day, looking at something that I had dreamt up and made all by myself was really satisfying – especially since it looked exactly as I wanted it to – something I can’t always say about my baking or sewing projects! This year I’m excited to start painting at home – the Husband got me a lovely easel for our anniversary which shall be set up in the Girl Cave this week. Another highlight was the SG Maker Faire. I had so much fun preparing for the fair with mum, that it did make me feel a little sad that we do not live closer together, and indeed I’ll soon be moving further apart. To a different continent as it happens..
2014 was also the year I turned 30. Whilst I am not gnashing my teeth at the thought that the “Things to do before I Turn 30″ bucket list is now gawn, gawn, gawn ( just like the fifty dollars), but I do feel a little Jack Bauer-y. So given we’re not getting any younger etc etc *yawn*, and more importantly, the fact that 2015 is going to be The Year We Move to New York (!), I figured I’d best encode some lessons in me before we start our next adventure.
1. Get On With It: I suppose this was a lesson I should have learnt years ago from Monty Python, but I’ve lost count of the number of times I had a project idea but prevaricated for ages before I Got On With It – case in point, Mod Podge Heels. Making excuses for yourself is too easy, but I know that every time I do that I diminish myself a little. It’s always been important to me to try new things in life, but somewhere along the way I think I let myself become a little complacent. I want to make the most of this special time of our lives where we’re living in a “2 Person World” ( direct translation of a mandarin colloquialism that refers to a married couple with no children) so I’m going to set a timeline for myself – Every idea I have will be attempted within 2 weekends. I think this is a goal that is specific and achievable so fingers crossed!
2. The Importance of Disciplined Unplugging : Donning my studying cap again after a 5(?) year hiatus reminded of the amount I can accomplish when I deprive myself of an always-on internet connection. I didn’t actually switch off the router, but I removed my ipad from my room and sat very strict break times when I would be allowed to pop on Netflix or spend 30 minutes checking my usual blogs. The experience brought home the fact that I really do spend a lot of random online time, time that I could spend reading the books I’ve been meaning to read, or working on the projects that I’ve been meaning to do. Of course, I would not want to switch off permanently (life without the cat pictures is not worth living) but I think there have been too many times where I reach for the internet out of force of habit, rather than some genuine need or desire to acquire a new piece of information – I will be more intentional about the time I spent online. I think this one is going to be harder, but the idea is to be more aware about my screen time so I can check myself before looking at yet another blog or BBC News article.
3. Own Less Lost Stuff : I couldn’t think of a catchy phrase for this. The old William Morris chestnut was an obvious choice, but I still want room in my cupboards for things-that-may-be-useful-so-they-get-a-short-reprieve. Like any crafter, I have a collection of trims, paper scraps, bits of fabric etc which I am not willing to part with, so the idea here is that I will pare back stuff that is floating around the flat with no purpose or meaning in life – Lost Stuff. Some examples of Lost Stuff are clothes that have not been warn in a year, books I have no intention of reading but somehow acquired, and yes – even half-finished projects that I have lost interest in. Not everything is worth the DIY effort, and there may be better avenues for my creative energy than to wrap a free box in fabric I don’t love. In the spirit of Get On With It I am not overthinking this, especially since the impending international move is already a good motivating factor. The Great Purge started on 1 Jan and the “body” count so far is 5 pair of shoes to the bin, two bags of clothes to be donated and another rack + two bags of stuff that will go to this weekend’s flea market(my first!) Anything that survives the flea will then be donated.
3 is a good number I think so I shall stop here and go poke in the odd sock drawer for something to throw..