Happiness Project
It's the weekend. That makes me happy. I'm being lazy today but I'll get back to comments on my last entry in a bit.
I wanted to document a few things I'm trying to do in my life that'll make me happy. Consider it a happiness project of sorts. Feel free to chime in with suggestions on how to achieve my goals, some things I know I want to do... But unsure of how to go about it fully. Let's get started.
1) Write more.
Now that Idol is over, I need to find a way to write more fiction and share it somewhere it'll get read. I am also looking at contests and anthologies, I have a few interesting links so far.
I also need to nail down my novel idea. I need to decide the bigger picture of it, create more characters, more sub plots and decide what's going to happen in the world I've created.
For those who don't know, the novel I'm working on is based on the Narcissism and Some Assembly Required prompts in Idol. It's YA science fiction about I'm nervous to give too much away mainly because I don't want people potentially stealing parts of my idea... But feel free to look back on those two topics if you'd like a taste of the story (I also wrote another during intersection week for Bridge that shows more about the main character, Vanessa).
So that's what I need to do more of. Write. Try to get better and maybe go somewhere with it.
2) Start new hobbies.
There's so many things I want to do... But I always say, "I'll learn later... When I have time... Or more money..." and we all know that I'll always find an excuse. So I need to get a few things in motion. I can't do ALL the things I want at once ( I don't have the time or the money for all of it now), but I need to get a few things going. Here's what I currently want to do for myself.
A) I want to learn how to make my own clothes. I took sewing classes in high school, I've always wanted to learn how to do it better. I need a sewing machine, practice and patience. The sewing machine might be hard to acquire.... But we shall see. Anyone want to pipe in on how hard this would be? It's possible, right?
B) I want to take circus classes. Like right away. They offer them nearby and they aren't terribly expensive if I do two a month. I also want to take burlesque dance classes (and ballroom too). I love dancing and performance arts like this.
D) I want to be a better photographer and get a dslr camera. I want to do this mainly for fun, but I'd love to be able to do it on the side for friends and family as well.
That's just a few hobbies that would make me happy. You get the point. I need to do things for me. I love creating things, I love being active and creative. That's what all these have in common.
3) Make friends and have a social life.
I want friends and a social life. Right now, that area of my life is lacking. I've always been a bit socially awkward, but that doesn't mean I don't like being social. I'm not good at meeting people. Meetups aren't good for me because in large groups with new people, I tend to hide. I'm never one to make friends in a group, I'm the one off to the side and ignored which makes me feel worse.
In St. Louis, I posted ads on Craigslist for friends but I became too scared to meet them in case they were a psychopath.
I'm bad about making plans with people because I'm too shy. I have a LJ friend who lives nearby, who I keep mentioning getting together with... And we haven't met yet because I'm too shy to pull the trigger and set something up.
I need to change that. I need to make friends because I really do want a social life and girls nights out and stuff. I've never really had girl friends before and i need to change that.
I just need to figure out how. I find I'm usually too socially awkward for people to really connect with me, but it's something I'm working on. Moving away from the few friends I had has made things a bit more difficult.
Meeting friends as an adult is hard though. But it's on my list of things to do for my happiness. I need friends and a social life.
4) Get healthy.
I've drastically improved my eating over the last few weeks even if this last week was worse than I'd like. It was still better. The only fallouts from my plan were items outside of my control.... Lunch with the office where they brought in pizza which was sent home with me (and I'm a binge eater who can't have junk around for a reason), etc.
But I'm better. I'm about 80-90% healthier.
I need to add in exercise. I used to run and do yoga and strength training... Now just nothing.
I bought an Amazon Local deal for 20 Crossfit classes. So that's a start. I need to start after my vacation (they must be used within 60 days of first visit so I don't want to miss a week).
5) Get Annabelle in intermediate obedience classes.
I want her to pass the Canine Good Citizen test and then I want to make her a therapy dog :)
Volunteer.
My Big Brothers/Big Sisters venture was put on hold since Annabelle had her health problems and I couldn't attend the orientation. I will do this soon :)
I'd like to find other organizations to volunteer for, maybe a few dog rescues. I've bathed dogs for adoption events for a place in SC, I'd love to do that again. I can't foster at my apartment, but I'd love to attend adoption events and help dogs and cats get adopted.
There was one or two more that I can't think of now. I'd better get moving though. I should be cleaning or writing or at least blow drying my hair. I'll try to keep this last handy and see about actively making changes toward my little Happiness Project :)
This entry was written from my phone, as usual. Please forgive autocorrect errors!
Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.