Retrospectives
It's December, which is BOTH just another month AND a month where people do "round-up" or "best of" or "lessons learned" activities.
I also do that, in my small way, BOTH because I'm drawn to nostalgia (remember the electrifying feeling of knowing that COVID vaccination was coming??) AND because I don't like to leave all the yucky accounting-type jobs to the new year. (Though truthfully, I do procrastinate most of them as long as possible.) So here are some things. Mostly random.
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| A random photo to match these random thoughts. |
1. Here's something I need to revise. In July, I said I don't like oat milk. Turns out I do like it well enough when it's packaged for coffee, which is all I really use milk products for these days. So I guess that's a benefit for the planet. Can we ignore the multinational corporation doing the packaging?
2. Here's something I have known before but face again, and frankly, I've never really liked it. Making choices means saying "no" to things. Closing doors. Relinquishing things and experiences, perhaps even before they happen.
Recently, Shuniah House Books has chosen not to participate in an indoor sale sponsored by ThunderCon, a group likely to attract more than a few folks interested in reading and buying books like The Iterations of Caroline. We have reasons, and I'm content with the decision, but it's hard not to feel a momentary pang.
3. Here's something I recently heard myself say and went "OH." It's long; get a coffee.
I have enjoyed using Leuchtturm notebooks for organizing and tracking my life for oh, eighteen months or so. Since this past September, I've been wondering what system to use in 2022. I had a Filofax ring system for many years and liked it fine. I've also very much enjoyed using Paperblanks notebooks in the past year for a variety of projects (you can see me rhapsodize about them on Instagram).
And no, I don't get paid from any of those companies, because although the amount I spend on notebooks seems vast to ME, it's not even a snowflake in a storm to them. (Yes, it's snowing today. Why do you ask?)
I have long found it restful to draw lines on paper. Straight lines, curvy ones. Doodles. Representations of objects and mere ornaments. I have wondered if I'd enjoy keeping a bullet journal, but I don't like drawing THAT much. Then again, the official Bullet Journal method isn't all about the beauty; it's about doing what helps you do things that are important to you. And if having a functional way to track days is all I want, I can make that.
My internal response was, "if you used a notebook as a bullet journal, imagine how quickly you'd go through notebooks." (Which is not necessarily true, either--some folks use only one or maybe two for the full year. Not your 80-page Hilroys, of course--the A5-sized big jobs.)
And then I said "OH." Because I am not like one who doesn't already own a notebook or two. I even enjoy using them, instead of keeping them "for nice" or "for writing that's worthy of this nice a notebook" (If you know you know; I can't explain it).
So, to recap: "using up notebooks" ... that's NOT a bad thing ... and I enjoy drawing lines, more or less ... and I can do whatever I want ... so I'm playing with a bullet journal in December and maybe into 2022.
No commitments. Because if there's one thing I learned YET AGAIN in 2021, it's that however much I enjoy predictability and routines, even (or especially) in times of unpredictable global events, I can also be flexible. Sometimes. In small things. Oat milk for coffee, bullet journal things.
Happy December, however retrospective you choose to be.