happy new year

I hope you all had a great start into the new year! As always, I try to take the time to reflect on the past year at this point and even though the year has rushed by these reflections have been on my mind a lot in the last days.
It’s always interesting to read back to the last new year’s post and compare. 2012 has been quite a year! It started with a very emotional time for us due to a family member’s illness which stayed with us for a good part of the year too. Thankfully things are looking up a bit on that end a year on!
2011 was the year where I struggled with the transition from student life to full time office work and to be honest I was feeling a bit low and unfocussed by the end of it. I really tackled that in 2012 when I realized that I was ready to go into business with my photography. It was a huge step for me but it has paid off better than I could have imagined.
I went through all the scary paperwork and officially opened my business in February.
Don’t be fooled: having a business while also working a full time day job is HARD. It means long hours on weekends and weekday evenings, a lot of unexpected challenges and a lot of patience when you have inspiring ideas but simply have to accept the fact that there are not enough hours in the day, week, month and it will just have to wait.
But: it is also inredibly rewarding! I can honestly say I have never looked back and enjoy every minute of it. It has challenged me and helped me grow in my photography in ways I could not have foreseen. It has brought wonderful clients my way and allowed me to capture and give a lot of joy. In 2012 I have designed my own website, created a photography blog and a facebook page and taught myself to send email newsletters (subscribe here if you like). I have done it all on my own and I am incredibly proud of that. I needed and need this to define who I am. I have no intention of giving up my day job (in case you were wondering) but I am excited to see what 2013 will bring for my business.

So, resolutions for 2013.
Health ::

• Keep going to my weekly yoga class and do yoga at home daily. I started yoga class early in 2012 and found out I really love yoga. It has given me a completely new feeling for my body and helps me battle back and neck pains. I really need to extend the part yoga plays in my life by doing at least a few minutes daily. At the moment I am using this 10 minute morning yoga session to wake up in the morning and it feels great.
• Drink water. I went to see a doctor about two months ago because I kept having really bad headaches, as often as two or three times a week and they were getting worse. I was also starting to get tummy aches from taking too much aspirin. She told me to start drinking 2.5 litres of pure water (in addition to every other liquid) every day before trying other treatment. I laughed in her face because I thought I was already drinking enough water. Guess what, I wasn’t. I am not up to 2.5 litres a day yet but the headaches have nearly stopped and I feel much better. Turns out the body adjusts to it after a while, it even makes you more thirsty the more you drink and I don’t even have to run to pee every five minutes anymore. Wish I had known this 15 years earlier.
• Eat better. This one is on my list every single year. We do get better at cooking and eating healthier (still going to the farmer’s market every weekend) but there is still too much frozen pizza. This year I’m planning to tackle this by writing down 10-15 recipes we already know how to do and have them ready at hand, so we’ll have something healthy and easy to make without the pressure of having to search for a recipe and then shopping for it.
• Keep up my daily lunch time walk even in rotten weather and when the cafeteria is warm and inviting.

Grow::

• Expand and grow my Photography business in new ways. Keeping up the inspiration by setting myself challenges and goals, both overall and for each new photoshoot. Being self-taught I feel there is just so much I do not know and master yet. At the same time I need to learn not to be too hard on myself, to value my work and learn to be more patient.
• Improve and keep up my Italian language skills by listening to a language CD at least once a week in the car on my way to work. Unused language skills fade all too quickly.
• Keep on simplifying. In 2009 we gave up television. In 2011 we decluttered and got rid of probably half of what we owned. In 2012 we have reaped the rewards by having less stuff to manage and worry about. Keeping our home clean and cozy is much easier, since picking up and putting things back where they belong takes hardly any time at all. Living simply is an ongoing project that needs managing and supervising and I’m excited to continue doing it in 2013.
• Be a kinder person. Also on my list every year and the hardest resolution to keep. I think I’m good at this at work and with friends, but less so with family and those closest to me. I think it’s so hard to keep because it is vague and there are less obvious steps to achievement. I will just try to remind myself often to be kind and caring and patient even when I’m tired.

If you’ve kept on reading until here, thank you! Thank you for being here in this space and reading and commenting and sharing and encouraging.