I just came back inside from sitting in the bright sunshine from this lovely December day in Arizona (we’re at Cesar’s parents house after a 2-week long self-quarantine), and I’m thinking about the year that was 2020 – what a t i m e, what a time, what a time (yes, Julia Michaels inspired that line).
It’s been a minute since I posted on MIM – so much happened in late summer and fall that consumed me entirely – we traveled to Moab, Utah for an outdoors and socially distant vacation mid-July; I decided to launch a vintage and thrifted goods Instagram shop at the end of July, as well, called A La Carte Vintage; the first week of August, I started a new full-time job as a career coach at a tech bootcamp school; I experienced a few of the most stressful months of the year due to personal family matters during the fall that mostly felt all-consuming (and when it wasn’t, I just distracted myself with working on my vintage shop). And oh yeah, then there’s COVID-19, police brutality, the presidential election,
So yeeeeah, that’s why I haven’t been around.
Just for funsies – let’s take a peek at my 2020 mind-body-soul goals and discuss where these aspirations landed.
- Mind: Be consistent with whatever I commit to myself.
- Body: Establish a weekly fitness and wellness routine.
- Soul: Learn homemaker skills.
Consistency feels so easy when it’s a habit and so hard when your routine gets changed. This year, I was not consistent with creating content – my motivation came in periodic waves (for a variety of reasons listed above).
I was somewhat consistent with my health and wellness. When we first went into lock down, Cesar and I started the 75 Hard challenge, and we successfully completed it in early June. We built healthy habits in those two and a half months. From June until Labor Day weekend, I continued to be active, and I started tracking my meals, which I hadn’t done during 75 Hard challenge. Unfortunately, after a 10 day trip home in early September, I fell out of my good habits and haven’t been consistent since.
What about my homemaker skills? Well, we stayed home and made our first Thanksgiving meal, which I consider a win, but I didn’t learn how to sew, which was my major aspiration. I bought a sewing machine off of Facebook Marketplace, but watching YouTube videos to learn wasn’t as helpful as I thought it would be – I think I’d do much better in an actual class hosted in person, but I haven’t even looked into that this year because of COVID. My hope is that coronavirus cases drastically decline in 2021 because of the vaccine and more people following social distancing guidelines, and I’ll be able to safely travel home and will get an in-depth sewing lesson from my sister, Meg. A few sewing projects I’d love to do: sewing a trio of boho style Christmas stockings, hemming jeans and curtains, and maybe a mask – doesn’t seem terribly hard, but I don’t know how to do any of that now!
For 2021, I’ve decided to KEEP the same mind-body-soul goals (like a re-do of 2020 but more mentally prepared for it this time).
What about you? What would you like to accomplish in the new year?
Wishing you and your family a healthy and enjoyable end of year and looking forward to a better 2021.
xo Marah Elizabeth
