A New Year, same me. I don’t make resolutions anymore because they tended to not be the most healthy choice for me, I’ve had a few intentions I’ve been working on from the moment I thought, hey maybe this is something I should pursue. I’d like to constantly be working on something - be it learning a new skill, or building muscle, meditating, or at the very least, reading a new book.

One of my biggest intentions has been to make it to my lifting class with a bit more consistency. I was avoiding it for reasons that weren’t really real, but they were reasons that I had thought made sense. The net positive impact of going to the class justifies the cost of going to the class - both from a time perspective and the money. I feel strong, and the positive effects of being in a group of body positive people is just incalculable.

My other body-mind related thing is making time for a yoga practice. I completed yoga teacher training at the end of last year, and it’s made every class more accessible to me. I’m still nervous about perceptions but I have a collection of modifications for nearly anything that I can pull from on the fly. I also have some idea of what’s going to happen next because most classes follow a pretty familiar arc. I’m still unsure if I will teach to anyone other than my partner, but at least I feel comfortable doing that. I’ve realized that I’m drawn to more restorative classes with props and time and breath work, so I might aim for more training in that area.

So far this year I’ve read 10 books. Some of them were short, some of them were YA, all of them were enjoyable reads not necessarily on a Reading Challenge list, but most of them probably could fit in somewhere or another. I’m hoping to post a few ideas for Reading Women and Read Harder soon, but at the moment, my biggest goal is to actually read the books I already have kicking around on Overdrive or in the house. It’s so lovely to visit a library or a bookstore, or peruse the online catalogues, but I get excited and start stocking up, and before I know it, the to be read in 21 days pile is much higher than I can manage.

My other reading intention is to make sure I pick up a few books in Polish. I’ve got my sights set on Olga Tokarczuk because I don’t have much awareness of what’s out there in Polish literature, but big name awards like the Nobel Prize are nothing to sneeze at - and since she won last year, it seems prudent to check out her work either way. But first, books in the house.

And on the bright side, there are copies available in English and Polish at the library, and I’ve requested them, but the wait is very long, so it’s feasible that I might finish the books in the house before I ever get to see these new ones.

I’ve started looking at what I will do once the kiddo goes to school and I still don’t know. There are lots of possibilities, but I know I would like to find myself and find an identity beyond being a mom again.