To Boldly Go
Good morning, dear Reader, and Happy New Year!
I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and wonderful holiday season!
It’s that time of year again. Everything feels fresh and new. Things that were mundane just yesterday (or last week) are suddenly exciting and invigorating! What is it about starting a new year? What is it about turning the page that always feels a little bit brighter, a little bit more hopeful?
It’s that time of year when people make resolutions. It’s a time for new plans. For shiny new pens. For fresh journals and new calendars.
But here at Safe Return Doubtful, you know we don’t make New Year’s resolutions. We don’t have “goals.”
We DREAM
Yes, dear Reader… dear Dreamer. Here we dream.
And today, let’s look back at the 2021 dreams, shall we? And then we will turn our attention forward and consider the dreams we might have for 2022.
If you’d like to read ALL of the 2021 dreams I had, you can click the button below to see last year’s dreaming forward post.
How’d I Do?
Editing
I had very tentatively dreamed of getting through my first past of edits on The Orb and the Airship. And if you recall, I was trying to calm down in my expectations and just focus on getting this first book in the series through this pass of edits.
CHECK! CHECK! DOUBLE CHECK!
Not only did I get The Orb and the Airship through its first pass of edits, but I also managed to get through the first pass of edits on ALL FOUR other books in the Turrim Archive.
Last Year’s Super Secret Project
I had hoped to get somewhere with this…
NO DICE
Sad to say, I haven’t done a single thing with that little project I wrote last New Year’s. It’s still lovely, and I still love it… but it needs an illustrator because it’s another Picture Book. Finding (and affording!) an illustrator is a lot harder than you might think!
The Prince in the Willow
I didn’t do anything with this story, either. I looked at it. Briefly. That’s as far as I got.
Flash Fiction
Nope. I didn’t write any flash fiction last year at all. I was too busy editing.
Audio Books
I wanted to get Second Son - Minstrel’s Call approved and up for sale on Audible
CHECK!
The entire Minstrel’s Song series is available in audio book form!
Reading
I wanted to read 50 books last year.
CHECK!
I read 82 books last year! And I pretty much liked all of them!
Blogging
I wanted to blog more last year and I wanted to write more book reviews.
UM… kinda check?
I think I blogged more last year than I did in 2020, so that was an improvement. I don’t know if I wrote more book reviews, but I did at least start leaving “mini” reviews of every book I read last year. And I wrote full-length reviews for many of my favorite fifteen fantasy reads, so I’m gonna count this as yes, I did it.
Life-ing
I wanted to be more intentional about my time. More focused on our home school stuff. More present each day with my family.
IN PROGRESS
I don’t know if this is ever a goal I’ll be able to go, “Yes. Whole heartedly, yes, I did all of that.” But I did feel like I was a lot more intentional about my time and how I spent it. I think we did some awesome stuff as a family this past year, and also just enjoyed a lot of “little moments” throughout the year, as well.
2022 Dreams
So what do I want to accomplish this year?
Writing/Authoring
I have some very specific goals for Turrim Archive that I would like to achieve before the end of this year. I have a major goal of being able to start releasing these books NEXT summer (2023) with 6-month gaps between releases, which will not be done without a significant amount of effort, but I think it’s doable.
I have 2 novellas outlined and started that I would like to write this year. One of these is my Sleeping Beauty retelling, and the other is my Super Secret Project.
I’d like to start really outlining in earnest for the sequel to An Echo of the Fae.
Find an illustrator for my picture book.
Reading
I’ve set myself a 25 book goal for now over at Goodreads, but I’m sure I’ll read more. However, I’d like to focus more on writing this year, so I set myself a much smaller goal than normal over there.
Blogging
I’d like to maintain the blog as a fun place to stop by and get snippets and updates and reviews… but I’d also like to spend less time on social media and the blog in general this year. I have a LOT that I want to accomplish this year, and that means that something might have to take a bit of a hit. I’m not abandoning the blog by any stretch of the imagination, but I might be a bit quieter here than you’re used to.
Life-ing
I feel like last year’s goals were pretty much the same as the ones I have for this year. So I’m just going to copy them here with a few tweaks and additions:
I want to continue to spend time with my family and do fun things with them. This winter I want to spend time sledding and ice skating and baking with them. I want to continue investing in our school-time. I want to add in electives like art and piano and focus on some of those things we often feel like we “don’t have time” for. When it gets warmer I want to take my kids camping and spend time at the lake. I want to read them good books and study the Bible with them and point them to Jesus and help them grow in their own faith. I want to encourage their creativity. I want to spend more time outside and more time reading my Bible.
And finally, I want to be bold this year.
Hence the title of this post.
I want to step outside my comfort zone and do things that are dangerous. That are scary. I want to share about my faith more openly. I want to hike in the woods, and maybe climb a mountain or two. I do not want 2022 to be a year of safety and timidity, but of boldness and daring and LIVING. Truly living.
I also just found out about the #1000hoursoutside challenge, and I’m totally taking it. Let’s spend 2022 outdoors! If anyone wants to take the challenge with me, they have cool coloring pages to track your time outside!
Whew… I’m tired just thinking about the year ahead… grin.
What are some of your dreams for 2022? Do you have any big plans? Trips? Goals? I’d love to hear about your dreams!!
May you have a courageous and daring new year as we all boldly go where no man has gone before: the future!