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What I’m Looking Forward to This Year
I’m starting this new year a little different, and instead of working on a list of goals, I am writing a list of things I’m looking forward to over the next 12 months.
And yes, I’m posting this in February because I took January to think about this topic, and because there’s no right or wrong timeline for a list like this. We can pause and look ahead and decide what we choose to focus on at any time of the year. I hope this resonates with my fellow spoonies, as we’re often made to feel like we’re “behind” in so many ways. So whether you’re chronically ill or not, this is me giving you permission to pause and think about what you want to focus on in the coming year, whenever you feel ready to.
(I’m going to write another blog post soon about why I am waiting to set goals until later in the year, which I think is helpful for anyone, but especially for those of us with chronic illness.)
Brainstorming for this list has helped me to feel more excited and positive about the coming year. Last year, I experienced some small but meaningful milestones in my healing, but I’ve also experienced some intensely rough stretches of time over the last several months, and lots of ups and downs in 2025. So this list has been a really useful way to look ahead with anticipation and to keep my spirits up during the difficult winter.
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Choosing a Focus for Each Month + Free Printables
Throughout this year, I’ve been trying an experiment choosing a focus for each month. I love setting and achieving goals, and lately I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about how to make goals more attainable. So I’m changing the way I set goals and sharing what I learned with you all!
I really love the idea of setting multiple big goals at the beginning of a new year, but this year that felt really out of reach, and honestly self-defeating, as the last couple years my chronic illnesses and new health issues have prevented me from reaching goals.
So I decided to choose a focus for each month—not a set number of to-do’s or things I had to complete by a certain time. To me, a focus is flexible and helps guide where I put my energy and what I work on.
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50 Things About Me As A Reader
I love when people share what they love about books, their reading habits, and memories around reading.
Back in 2020, I read a blog post from Modern Mrs Darcy called 100 Things About Me As A Reader. I loved the idea of compiling a list like this, and I asked a friend if she would like to start creating one too. So over the next several months, we jotted down our thoughts on reading.
I had fun capturing my stories about reading and some of my quirks as a reader. Once my list reached 50, it felt like I had a good portrait of who I am as a reader.
I found my list the other day and enjoyed reading through it, and thought it would be fun to polish and update for my blog.
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Snapshot Journal: Spring Is Here
I love that recording just a brief snapshot of what I’ve been up to has been an attainable, rewarding goal. I’ve enjoyed looking back at my previous snapshot posts.
This practice seems especially helpful for those of us with chronic illness who enjoy journaling. I’m finally recovering from a bad ME/CFS flare that sent me to bed for most of five days and then lingered for over two weeks longer, so I wanted to spend some time reflecting on good things.
I hope this post inspires you to create a snapshot journal of your own. Feel free to adjust it to fit your own interests and energy levels.
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Snapshot Journal: What I’m Doing Currently
I’m back with recommendations of books, shows, and more that I’ve been enjoying, along with an update on me.
I took a blogging break for a few months because I received new medical diagnoses and had to have surgery in July. I also went through a time where there was concern that my cancer had recurred, but results from my surgery came back clear, praise God.
I didn’t feel like writing about these challenges at the time. And I also didn’t feel like blogging without addressing them because it felt like I would be denying my reality and the affect it was having on me.
I share this as a reminder that if you have a chronic illness or blog about chronic illness, we don’t have to share things right away. And we don’t have to share everything if it doesn’t feel helpful.
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Snapshot Journal: What I’m Doing Currently
I wanted to try a new kind of blog post where I create a list showing a snapshot of what I’ve been doing lately. I’m recording what I’ve been enjoying to celebrate the little things and practice gratitude.
This list is partly drawn from this blog post by Gillian Parlane about documenting and remembering the little things. I’ve been reading her blog after enjoying her TED Talk: Change Your Closet, Change Your Life.
My snapshot journal is also partly inspired by what I’m learning about neuroplasticity and health.
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Longing for Light: An Example of Mythology Pointing to Jesus
Ever since I was little, I’ve loved reading mythology. The epic stories, heroic deeds, and imaginative worlds captured my imagination and solidified my love for fantasy books. But even better is when you can tell there is a beautiful truth underlying myths. I want to explore an example of mythology pointing to Jesus and how every human heart longs for light to vanquish darkness—a timeless theme of good overcoming evil.
I love when mythology points out a universal theme. In dark times, we ache for the arrival of dawn.
This seems especially relevant right now, as we’re all longing for a little more light in the world. Things have been pretty dark lately, what with the pandemic, racial injustice, divisiveness and more. So where can we turn as we’re looking for light?
Tricky Characters and Myths about Light
The examples from mythology I want to look at all tell the story of rebel gods stealing fire or light to bring it down to earth.
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Ups And Downs: Summer, Chronic Illness, and a New Normal
Hello friends, I’m so excited to be able to join A Chronic Voice’s link up this month. Summer is finally here, but unfortunately, that doesn’t mean a vacation from chronic illness. So I’m going to share what I’ve found helpful and how I’m coping with the new normal.
This link up is a way for chronic illness bloggers to connect by writing posts based on the same prompts. I found it so helpful last month to use the prompts as a jumping off point to not only write a blog post, but also to do some journaling for myself to process everything going on in the world and my own life.
This month, I’m using the prompts to share a little bit about what I’ve been up to lately creatively, what I’ve been struggling with healthwise, and how I’m continuing to adjust to the new normal.
The prompts for this month are Bothering, Demanding, Telecommunicating, Tolerating, and Nourishing.
