End of Year Journal Prompts

I thought I'd share the journal prompts that helped me assess 2024 and settle on my resolution word. They were presented in December by Ali Manning of my Handmade Book Club, partly because so many members are at a loss as to what to use their newly-made blank books for. I was still in a mood when she first posted them and brushed them off as something I didn't want to do, but by the third time they crossed my path, I found myself pouring out answers on a scrap of paper. I know we are well into January, but perhaps you'd be interested in considering them:

• What surprised you this year?
• What habits or routines improved your life?
• What risks did you take and how did they turn out?
• What would you like to leave behind this year?
• What are your top priorities for next year?
  

As you might guess, a lot of my answers were quite negative, but it's good to get that out of your system. And it was pretty clear what I wanted to leave behind and make priorities for 2025.

I usually scan over the year's blog posts before choosing my resolution word and writing that post, but this year I did not. In retrospect, I think I left the impression that the year had been a wash, so easy to concentrate on the negative, but surely that was not true. So now I've made that scan and can say it wasn't all bad, by any means. I made quite a few beautiful books, many for gifts. I got back into knitting more often, completing a pair of socks and nearly finishing a sweater. I worked to improve my art journaling skills with several completed spreads and some small mixed media pieces. I added more Zentangles to my sketchbook, learning some new ones. I pried myself out of the house to do some urban sketching once the weather got nice. And organizing efforts throughout the year did make me feel better about my work spaces and a bit more in control.

Of course, I couldn't help feeling my crowning achievement was making that baby quilt for my goddaughter's baby, then following it up with the pillowcases and trinket bowls. And of course, even more trinket bowls! But I needn't overlook all the rest I accomplished, the year certainly not a wash. I'm disappointed that I couldn't convince myself to get out on a trail hike but I'm hopeful that what kept me home or on my secure daily walking routes will no longer be an issue. And I'm hopeful that my issues with my hands will be less of an issue with the help of compression gloves to wear while doing handwork and these fancier ones with heat and vibrations! In this clip they are charging up, the blinking red lights looking a bit like Christmas, don't you think?

So while I may be focusing on resisting less, I think I am right in thinking I need to resist being sucked in by free classes like that Year of Light one. Even though there are a few lessons I still plan to try, I realized that almost all posts from people doing them were direct copies of the instructor's example. And while copying is one of the best ways to learn, I thought more than once that no, I did not want to just copy, but use my own sketch or idea to practice a particular technique or style. That may be partly out of confidence or partly out of recognition of time marching on and I need to make better use of it. In truth, even in the learning stages of quilting, I was always thinking of little ways I could change things up to make it more my own. I will try to keep that in mind, that making things more my own, as I continue into the new year and keep creating.