A Mid Year Review
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Cuss word alert!
I hate to admit it, but you would agree with me that this year seems to go on at a very normal pace. Not too fast and not too slow, just the right balance of speed. But as a person, I don’t think I am catching on as I intended to. I am behind with the goals I set out for this year laughing out at me, and I am about to do the most stressful thing in my life right now, be accountable. I assumed you saw the cuss word alert. Don’t take that deep breath and start groaning yet, I am not holding you accountable to your goals, at least not yet, I am only trying to review the goals and plans I have for this blog since it is the sixth month here, and this is a progress report.
Let me start with this. I am bringing my best foot forward, and writing about the things I have accomplished in the first half of the year before I get into the bad news or changed plans. For an idea of the aim of the blog this year, check here. And now that you have a refresher, let us start.
So the first series I could complete is The Dream Series. It was three posts, and I am not sure if I wanted it to be longer. I don’t think, going further, I will put up anything concerning that label again. I mentioned the possibility of Aeon writing under that series, but there is no plan concerning it. The conversation Series is going on well, the third episode is going to be out on the last Monday of the month, but I must admit I am behind on my scheduling and because of that, I had to adjust the number of episodes I intend to release for the first season. And I also have to put under consideration the continuity of the series itself. I have noticed the bulk of my writing recently has been under the check-in label, and there is positive feedback about that. It would make sense if the bulk of what I am going to be putting up in the coming months is going to be under this label.
Now to the slight change of plans, I intend to put out a collection on Playful Panda Presents, the same way I did last year and I also want to see how many of the designs I can make for myself and maybe someone else. Towards the end of the year, I should have put up this collection. This means there would be an illustrated collection and also a Lookbook (I am not sure if this is the right word) of constructed garments from this collection. The implication of this change is this: My sewing journal would be focused on making the collection, as against the earlier plan of letting you know the things I learnt in my sewing journey for this year. But it is going to turn out well. I have every intention of letting that happen. The second change is this, I will not be collaborating with any artist this year, so there is a high probability that I will release nothing regarding Black’s Art challenge.
Now to the bad news, I am going to start by apologizing to Munachi and Ella. I will not be uploading any food-related post, so My Food Stories has to be on the back burner for another year. I know, I talk about the food blog a lot, and I am so sorry that I wouldn’t be doing anything to that effect. I started this year with a target of putting out 70 posts, and one would think that in the middle of the year, I would have 35 posts, but that is not the case. I have 24 instead if you include this post and Aeon’s posts. And that means I have been taking a lot more time off writing than I intend to, but it is alright, it is all a process, and I am balancing everything.
If you are wondering why I put this up, it is because I think you need to know what is going on with the blog. I told you what you should expect me to put up at the start of the year. It is only right, you know, where I stand now and what is going to change. Not only that, I want to show you a little something I have been dealing with in the meantime, and that is accountability. Accountability is the obligation to answer for one’s actions. As Dave (Writer, Keeping Up With Dave Newsletter) puts it, “The process of accountability is as simple as saying: this is what I said I’ll do and this is what I did. Then, if your actions differ from your words, you must answer why.”
Let me ask a quick question, how many of you had a new year resolution or a goal list for the year? Everybody, yeah? How many of you have gone back to see if you are doing what they intended for the year? A little less, right? How many of you even remember the new year's resolution? I will assume not the bigger fraction. And that is the issue here. Often, when we don’t have to answer to anyone about the things we said we are going to do or the things we end up doing, we don’t like to question ourselves or hold ourselves accountable. If nobody is asking me if I have started eating healthy, I don’t have to bother about it any longer. But it is not nice, we are not being fair to ourselves.
And here is the reason for the mid-year review, apart from the fact that I am holding myself accountable to you as a reader on this blog, I want you to hold yourself accountable. I want you to go back to see your progress for the year, all the things you said you were going to do. Ask yourself the important question, are you doing them, if not why? What do you need to change? What do you need to put more effort into? What lie do you have to stop telling yourself? What excuse do you need to give up? You are an adult now, and I know it is a sad reality, but you have to do this. And if you are following through with your plans, goals and resolution, keep up the good work. In all you do, remember to be true to yourself.
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