Hello, it's me

It's been a while since I last blogged, and the first day of a new year seems like a good time to put some thoughts down.  I can't say I'm a fan of New Year, but it is an opportunity to do a bit of reflecting on the year that's just ended and looking to the year ahead.  Some people make resolutions, but I know they don't work for me - I feel like I'm setting myself up to fail. 

 

I know I have a natural tendency towards pessimism, and that my default thinking patterns are often quite negative.  When I think about the kind of person I would like to be, I often think to the other extreme of what I am - someone who is (nearly) always positive and happy, outgoing, popular, the life and soul.  But that's just not me.  I'm never going to feel totally comfortable being the centre of attention, and I can't see myself as that person who everybody wants to be friends with.  And that's ok.

 

I would like to feel better about life and myself, but 'trying to be happier' sounds forced.  Instead of trying to make myself be a different person or be a 'happy' person, I'm going to take a step back.  My non-resolution New Year's resolution is to do or find something everyday that makes me smile.  So I'm not trying to force a feeling, but am being more intentional about looking for and recognising positives in my day to day life.  More positive thoughts will hopefully bring more positive feelings, right?!  It doesn't have to be anything huge.  In fact the more simple things are probably better.

 

The plan is to take a photograph everyday this year, posting it on Instagram, in order to encourage my creative side as well.  You can follow me on www.instagram.com/muhanga12  I'll share some of them on facebook and here on my blog from time to time.  I'm hoping this will be good for me, in the same way that my list of '30 things to do before I turn 30' was.  I know it helps if I have a project.  Something to focus on.

 

I very much doubt that this is a new idea.  In fact there are plenty of other people on Instagram using hashtags associated with this kind of project - #366days, #366smiles, #project366 etc.  I won't be setting a theme for each day like some photo challenges, but just finding something that makes me smile.  Hopefully I'll achieve some things along the way that I would have set as resolutions (if I was into setting resolutions), such as getting fitter, losing weight, valuing my friendships more, doing more art....

 

Today' photo was of some trees covered in lights on University Avenue, in Glasgow's Westend.  I love fairy lights, at any time of year.  And having spent most of today indoors, it made me smile to see something pretty as I was out for a walk.