At the start of 2020, I sat down and created a set of 6 simple resolutions for myself that I hoped would gently guide my practice for the year and set a few simple goals along the way. I had no idea what 2020 would bring, obviously, but despite the challenges and obstacles, I feel like I've been fairly successful and that's a nice place to be at the end of the year. I want to take a little bit of time to look at each of my resolutions and see how I feel about them today. Then, sometime in the next week I will sit down and come up with a whole new set of resolutions for 2021.
GOAL #1: COMPLETE THE CLERGY TRAINING PROGRAM 3RD CIRCLE
Success!
I completed all of the courses, and on February 16th I had the honor of being elevated to Senior Priest. This ritual took place at a conference in San Jose, California, called Pantheacon. It was a wonderful weekend of rituals, workshops, and building a community. It was 6 years of study, research, writing, and work and I am so proud of myself for completing it.
GOAL #2: READ MORE! GOAL OF 30 BOOKS
Success!
My goal was to read 30 books and I blew past that goal. I am now at 44 books for the year as I write this. I love to read and am proud that I gave myself the time to make this happen!
GOAL #3: WRITE MORE! BLOGS & POEMS
Success! While I don't necessarily have photos to show my success in this area, I definitely feel like this was something that I did fairly well. I definitely had lull's in my blog that I didn't feel productive or motivated, but I wrote more on this site this year than I ever have in the past. feel like I'm getting a good rhythm in place and hope to continue creating content. I also was able to get some of my poems published in other works, which feels amazing for me. Ultimately, I want to keep creating content and continue sharing my journey in the upcoming year.
GOAL #4: RE-ESTABLISH A PERSONAL PRACTICE
Kinda?
Realistically I think I have a better "regular" practice now than I have had in a very long time, but it certainly isn't as regular as I had hoped to be at the beginning of the year. I am doing divination each Monday, and spending a day each week focused on writing and stuff. I try to remember to do my devotionals with coffee in the morning, but I'm not always successful. I'm trying. That's a step in the right direction I suppose. This one could definitely use some work.
GOAL #5: PROGRESS IN OTHER STUDY PROGRAMS
Kinda? This resolution most certainly didn't take the form that I anticipated that it would at the beginning of 2020. I had hoped to complete another ADF study program at some point during the year, but that did not happen. I completed individual courses in 2 separate programs, but no completed work. I did also begin working through the OBOD Bardic Grade, which has been an interesting dive into Druidry from a completely different perspective. It's not the progress I expected, but I'm happy I at least made some progress.
GOAL #6: MORE SELF CARE
Nope! Again, I can blame 2020, but it's probably more accurate to blame anxiety and depression. I started 2020 strong with a whole new fitness routine and healthier eating habits...and then we hit quarantine and it felt like just surviving was about as much as I could handle. I did allow myself time to read and write, which are both methods of self care for me, but it wasn't as effective as I wanted it to be. It wasn't a total failure, but I also wouldn't call it a total success.
FINAL THOUGHTS
While I didn't fully accomplish all of the things that I had hoped to at the beginning of 2020, I'm proud of the things that I was able to accomplish through the year. It was an extremely challenging year, and the fact that I had more successes than not is something that I am very happy about. Now to take the time to genuinely think about what I want to accomplish in 2021. Hmmmm....