Happy New Year bbs!
I still can’t believe that we’ve reached 2020. I think it’ll be a few weeks before I stop writing 2019, but I do have to admit that I’m excited for the energy that a new year always brings in. I didn’t go out to celebrate for New Years Eve; I had initially planned to, but when my sister in law asked me about magazines because they were going to do vision boards together with her parents and the kids, I decided to go there instead. NYE is always chaotic and they live less than 15 minutes away from me, so it just made more sense, especially with the headspace that I’ve been in.
2019 was an interesting year for me. I had some really great highs (I got to work with amazing brands on my blog, my photography business finally had some substantial growth, and most importantly, my brother had a heart transplant and is healthy and THRIVING), and some low lows (I won’t go into details but 2 of my best friends lost immediate family members, I despise my downstairs neighbors and my dating life sucks right now), but overall, it resulted in monumental growth for me in many ways, and I’m thankful for everything. I will say that trying to be more intentional with everything I do vs just flying by the seat of my pants the last few years really changed the scope of of my life, and I want to continue that into the new year and beyond. I’m so immensely blessed, and I realized the power that we hold when it comes to manifestation, so my goal as I grow as a woman is to hone in on it even more so that I can truly live the life I know that I desire… and deserve.
Which leads me to my vision for 2020. As I was creating my vision board for this year, I realized that I was pulling in more words and phrases to include on it. Previously, it was all about finding the right photos, but words of affirmation and descriptors for the things that I want for my life were what jumped out at me the most. I guess because we only have so much control over certain things in our lives (and when we receive them), I only really care if if it’s right for ME. For example, I want a chic home: my tastes in decor constantly change (and I hope to finally move into a place that I really love before the year is out) so it’s moreso about a feeling for me related to my home than the couch that I have or the way that my bathroom is set up. I just want it to feel chic and be a place that I love to come home to.
I plan to continue to be intentional with my career: I learned a LOT from the people I worked with (and even the clients that I lost) last year and overall, I only want to have clients that value my work and have no issue paying my rates. I never wanted to be the photographer that shot everything with everyone, but I DO want clients that are so focused on building solid brands/blogs for themselves that they understand the consistency and investment that has to come with it. Their level of consistency may vary per their goals, but they see my contribution as part of it, so we’ll be able to work closely together on campaigns and building a solid content plan together vs me just shooting for them (which are 2 totally different things). I want to grow as a photographer, and I only want clients that will stretch me creatively when we work together. I’m lucky that I already do, and hopefully we’ll turn it up even more in 2020.
I plan to continue to be intentional with my family: as scary as it was for us with my brother going through heart failure and ultimately having the transplant, it brought our family so much closer together. I mean, we were already pretty close, but our connections with each other deepened so that we made more effort to get together more frequently. Your family (whether it’s blood or through friendship) is everything, so my hope is that it continues to grow deeper every day. We’re on the other side of a dark period in our family and I’m so thankful for that.
I plan to continue to be intentional with my blog: my photography business grew a LOT this past year, and while I was still able to have some amazing opportunities with my blog, I also slacked a bit because of my business. Honestly, working with others to create their vision can cause you to have burnout when it comes to your own. I didn’t lose any momentum, thank goodness, but I know that I can excel a lot more than I did. I did some planning and goal setting around it the last week of 2019, so I’m excited to put things in motion.
I plan to continue to be intentional with my relationships: the hardest lesson I had to learn this year was related to clarity in my relationships, particularly with my romantic ones. I’m so transparent, easy going and laid back, and while you’d think it makes things flow more easily, it actually doesn’t in the long run. I had to set some boundaries, and in the process I had a heartbreak. Communication is so important and your relationship should never have a question around it. There’s no such thing as mixed signals. You’re either on the same page or you’re not, so be clear about what you want and if they aren’t working towards the same thing as you, understand that they don’t value your relationship the same and walk away. Doesn’t make them a bad person but don’t waste your time romanticizing your place in their life. Finally setting boundaries was jarring in some ways, but it released me from a lot of old ghosts, so now I can make room for what I deserve from a partner.
There are so many other things that I have to work on in the new year; mine actually started on my birthday (Dec 1) but I took that month to finally close out a few things so that I could go into the year with a clear mind and heart and be ready for what lies ahead. My word for the year is NURTURE, and I’m ready to do that in so many ways.
I hope that you’ve taken time to set intentions for your life as well for the upcoming year. Life is for the living and there’s no perfect time to do anything. Be focused, get your shit together, and go after what you really want!