Last year I resolved to:
- Reach post 1000 on The Gryphon's Perch by adding 42 entries
- Make 60 posts total including the satelite blogs
- Walk 40 km on average weekly
- Do two strength trainings on average weekly
- Find a way to feel valuable
Let's see how I did:
Reach post 1000 on The Gryphon's Perch by adding 42 entries
I achieved this one! On December 31st, I made my 1000th post, which was a summary of the main events that happened each year that the blog has been active. Reading 14 & 1/4 years of my life to prep for it was trippy.
Make 60 posts total including the satelite blogs
I updated my food blog 20 times, with recipes for: General Tso's chicken, pork schnitzel, cream of broccoli soup, energy balls, chicken tortilla soup, Caribbean rice & beans, cheesesteaks, fresh pasta, zucchini fritters, quickles, jambalaya, fried okra, broccoli salad, dahl, macaroni corn casserole, tourtiere, chicken cacciatori, the "Do the Brussel" burger, fried green tomatoes, and loco moco.
Just by adding my food entries, this brings me to a total of 62, fulfilling my resolution. But I also made 5 reviews and I posted twice to my gallery. This brings my total to 69.
The gallery posts were both photos-based, one of Kenabeek and one of Victoria Park. I didn't do any paintings I felt were worth making their own posts for, but I did do these:
I also made a few attempts at an aurora borealis that didn't quite work out and another version of the tarot-style sun/moon with colour gradient. I tried drawing the tree in our backyard with coloured pencils too
Walk 40 km on average weekly
My average for 2024 was 44.3. Ever since 2021 when my goal was 25, I've been increasing it by 5 annually. I managed to get close enough to the next interval that I feel obligated to increase it again. I don't want to at the moment though. I was sick this week and wasn't able to do much walking, and we have a polar vortex going on, which is discouraging to go outside. I'll still make it a resolution to walk 45 km average weekly in 2025. My mom always aims for 50, so maybe I'll settle at that number when I get to it, having doubled my original goal.
Do two strength trainings on average weekly
I went long stretches where this was true. I came up with a game, where I have a character on an adventure that he only gets to progress if I exercise. I'd write a new entry every time I worked out.
After my mother and brother lost their house in the fire and moved in with us, it cut down on floor space, making it difficult to do strength trainings. After they left, I found it challenging to get back into a routine. So I'll make the same resolution this year, in the hopes that we don't have to host anyone this time
Find a way to feel valuable
I made this one because I'd watched a "How to ADHD" video explaining that people often fall out of allignment with their goals. She suggested that instead of asking yourself "What do I want to accomplish", you should ask "How do I want to feel?". I thought this was intriguing, and decided to try it for at least one resolution. I was able to identify that I wanted to feel valuable, but I couldn't find a way to do that, so I just left it as a goal to try and figure it out.
To be honest, I remember all this now, but I forgot to try and fulfill it shortly after the post. I suppose I proved my value incidentally after the fire, just by being able to provide shelter, help with documents, use my network and such, but meh. I don't really think I achieved this one.
I'll say I succeeded at 3 out of 5 of my resolutions.
Resolutions
I'm going to relax my posting schedule. I'd been wanting those 1000 posts for a long time. I don't want to give this blog up completely though. Previously, I'd set a minimum of 35 posts anually when I hit an all-time low in 2021. I kind of forgive myself for that particular year though. After doing my summary of the entire blog, I realized that 2021 was the least eventful. My brother pointed out that while we remember 2020 as the year of COVID, everything was still new and strange. The year following was when panic transitioned to languishing, so it makes sense that my inspiration was low at that time. We did get Finn that year.
Anyway, I'll return to previous years targets, and just say minimum 35 for this blog, 50 spread over the satelites.
As I said before, I'll increase my walking goal to 45 km weekly, and I'll try again for two strength trainings on average.
As far as health-based resolutions go, I found success in an area that was a surprise. After being diagnosed diabetic a few years ago, I've been on a health journey. I thought it would start with a focus on nutrition, then when I got comfortable with that, it would progress to activity, and eventually I wanted to try intermittent fasting. I even had it as a goal for 2023, which I never felt ready for and dumped the following year in favour of an emphasis on exercise.
But I did try it. I started with 12 hour fasts. It was surprisingly easy. If you're hungry, you don't have to ask yourself what you're going to eat or how much, you just have to ask if you're in your fasting window. I was comfortable enough that I increased it to 16 hours.
Something improved that I didn't expect. One morning I woke up feeling better rested than I had in years. I didn't think too deeply about it, but the next day and the day after were the same. At that time I had to ask myself if I'd been doing anything differently and I realized it was the fasting.
It hasn't helped much with weight loss (I've lost five pounds this year) but it has helped immensely with sleep, which is something I've always struggled with. I don't want to sound like a shill for this method. Everyone's body is different and I don't want to perscribe an umbrella solution. But it's been good for me, and I would like to resolve to continue with it.
I'm not going to bring back finding a way to feel valuable, but I will commit to an emotion-based goal. Lee-Anne's been reading a book on the sensation of awe. This is what you feel when you observe something greater than yourself. People associate it with nature, art, spirituality, moral beauty, confrontations with mortality, and connection with others. She wants to try and experience more of this in the new year, and I said I would try along with her.
I also want to cut down on my screentime, engaging in less media that is algorithm-based. I don't trust these corporations to have my best interests in mind when choosing the information I consume. So I'd like to spend more time with "cold media", things that can't immediately be changed, such as physical books.
So with all this being said...
In 2025, I resolve to:
- Make 35 posts to The Gryphon's Perch
- Have a total of 50 posts between my main blog and its satelites
- Walk an average of 45 km weekly
- Do strength trainings 2 times per week
- Commit to a 16 hour intermittent fasting schedule
- Seek out experiences that evoke a sense of awe
- Consume more cold media
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