Christmas #2, New Year #2 and New Years resolutions

Merry Christmas, Orthodox and Greek Catholic people! Happy old New Year!

I was planning to make a few separate posts on all of those topics but then realised that I will not manage to do it for many reasons. So let's mix it a bit!

It took me a long time to understand what are my New Year's Resolutions, or should I rather say - New Year's Goals. But now I really want to put them in writing to have something to measure this year by later. Some of this goals you might have seen in my birthday post, but that's the plan.

Photo by Tarmo Tõnismann 

1. Work, enjoy and succeed -

I enjoy absolutely everything I do. And I do only what I absolutely enjoy. Some days it's a bit harder than the others, but this is the spirit I'm going to take with me into 2017. 

2. Meditate -

I'm an emotional person and sometimes emotions get the best of me. I can easily remember about three time periods in my life when I was waking up around 5-00 in the morning and wasn't able to fell asleep again just because I was so anxious and couldn't stop thinking about something. Ever since I started trying out meditation this summer, I'm feeling so much calmer and so much more in control, I plan to continue it for as long as I live. And I think I need to get a bit more organised with this so I will put a goal of meditating every morning for 10 minutes. I think it's quite an achievable goal that will make my life better. 

3. Travel - 

I never wrote about this on my blog, but in November 2016 the immigration system of Italy decided to almost completely ruin 2017 for me and gave me an appointment in Questura in 5 months. So, as my previous permit of stay expired in November 2016 and will not be able to go there to apply till March 2017, I will have my documents only at the end of April (if... IF everything will go well). Which is a huge bummer, because without it I'm not allowed to enter any other EU country. I can travel around Italy or I can go to Ukraine.

I was angry, I was sad, I was angry again. And then I decided one thing. Will I let those ******** decide my life? No way in hell! I will receive my permit of stay and my residence and I WILL TRAVEL. Even if this year I will have a smaller window to do it. But I will travel because it's my absolute favourite thing to do. I have three very specific places on my mind, but I will keep them to myself for now. 

Helsingborg and wonderful Birgitta

4. Read more - 

I absolutely love to read and under normal conditions, I'd never had to put it in my resolutions. But I grew up in a big city and my time to read was always my travel time - bus, tram, subway. Since I moved to Palermo, this cushion of free time doesn't exist anymore - I walk everywhere because I live in the city center, very close to any location I might need to go to (also because public transportation in Palermo almost doesn't exist - buses come whenever the drivers feel like it, so waiting for 40 minutes and then see five identical buses appearing at the same time is quite a common thing). And I have many wonderful books waiting to be read - both in physical form and in my Kindle. So I will designate a special time to reading and follow my reading list for 2017 (I guess I will write a separate post on it).  

5. Work on blog and videos more - 

I have to say that after my long hiatus and moving my blog to this new address I'm quite happy with the year of blogging I had. But this year I want to really step up my game - be more consistent and fast, create some great content (both as a writer and a photographer) and maybe even move it again, to my own domain. Same goes for my youtube channel - I have some public videos, I have some private ones, I have videos I published and made private after some time (mostly because I wasn't satisfied with the quality). I want to do well on youtube this year too - to make better videos and develop my editing skills, just because I enjoy it all so much.   

6. Write - 

I'm a writer since I've learned how to write, but a very disorganised one. I have a stack of papers (I'm not kidding) with short stories I used to write by hand, I have notebooks with outlines of articles and folders full of ideas, and none of this saw the light of day. This year it all will change - I will find more platforms to write for and will be much more productive and organised with my writing. I can say that I started 2017 quite good - my pile or random pieces of paper with short stories became smaller and the folders on my laptop are much more organised now. So this is the plan for the year. 

7. Live well - 

By living well I understand not only doing sports and eating well. I mean doing more things that bring me joy and make me feel good. I want to finally find a good contemporary dance class in Palermo. Go on hikes more often. Have breakfast with friends every weekend. Go see more ballets in Teatro Massimo (I just bought their "under 35" card yesterday so I will get so much better deals on tickets now). Bake pies. Finally go the Southern coast of Sicily, because I'm here for almost three years and it's becoming ridiculous. Blog about social issues and also about fashion, travel etc. Go to parties and dance my shoes off. Buy people gifts they will love. Treat myself to nice things. And just enjoy.

8. Go to Ukraine -
I don't think I need to explain. I haven't been home for more than a year and I miss everyone and everything. So this year I'm planning to go back and spend home around 2 weeks. I know it will be a great-great time!

Kyiv, St.Sofia's Square

9. Gain new skills - 

Well, always. But I'm speaking about two specific things. First - I want to learn how to drive. Yes, I still don't know how to. I guess I was always way too attached to my habits of reading in Kyiv's subways. But now I want to learn and I want to get a licence. And second, as silly is it might sound, is equally important. I want to learn to play an ukulele. I don't know why, but I want to tame at least one musical instrument. 

10. Update my photo and video equipment - 

This is a very necessary step, and also a quite expensive one. But the time has come. I need to find good deals and invest in two new lenses and a mirrorless camera with a flip screen. Wish me luck (and a winning lottery ticket!) 

11. Don't let anyone put me down - 

Very, very important one. I've had some very bad experiences in the past when people quite close to me were trying to put me down (me or my accomplishments) - out of jealousy or something else, I don't know. In 2016 I noticed that this was happening again, and hell no, I'm not letting anyone do this again. I love helping people and will always offer a hand if I can, but I will not take part in someone else's ego-trips. I do believe that each one of us is already suffering from self-doubt enough and no one needs any of this bullsh*t from others. So I'm choosing to be a very good friend to people who appreciate it and not to deal with people who are using others for self–assertion.

12. Never stop - 
Because life is movement and movement is life.

That's it for now! See you and have a great day!