I was trying to figure out what to write this month and really wasn’t sure. I’ve spent the past few months rather mired in my depression and struggling to get out of that rut. 2022 as a year so far certainly hasn’t been kind to me. I may have had some wonderful moments, but there’s also been a lot of heartbreak and anxiety and general sadness. 2022 hasn’t been kind to a lot of people and many are suffering far worse than I likely ever will so I know I shouldn’t allow my depression to get the best of me, but as anyone who lives with it knows, that’s not how the brain works.
So, while I keep sitting and thinking and sitting and thinking and trying to get out of my rut, I wondered if it would be helpful to have a look at how I’ve been doing with the goals I set myself for 2022. Have I been keeping up with them? Have I been failing miserably? Let’s find out.
Finish and publish A Place Where We Belong
Well, I certainly don’t have a first draft yet. I think in total I’ve maybe written less than 1000 words of the 50,000 odd I’ve got left to go. I don’t quite know why I’ve just had no inspiration to write. Maybe it’s the challenge of trying to write a story based in a world more like reality that I struggle with, maybe I’ve written myself into a corner and I need to work my way out of it, I don’t really know.
In a way, I’ve ended up doing the same thing I did last year, spending more time on all my other goals and leaving my book to languish.
Still, I’ve got half a year left and an entire month where I’m not rehearsing for Hunchback of Notre Dame, so if I can dig down deep, I can do this. We’ll see if A Place Where We Belong will materialise before the end of 2022, but I will keep my fingers crossed.
Make the most of my Notts Operatic Society debut
I’m now into Week 7 or 8 of rehearsals for The Hunchback of Notre Dame and it is some of the best fun I’ve had in a while. Everyone in the cast are brilliant and ridiculously talented, and just hearing the sound we’ve been making has been out of this world.
There’s still about 4 months left until the show opens, but I can’t believe how good it’s all looking and sounding already. I’m so excited and it’s been great getting involved with the social media for the society too.
So if you want a sneak peak, here’s the cast singing the opening notes of The Hunchback of Notre Dame’s iconic opening: The Bells of Notre Dame.
Performances begin
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Teach Milo 12 new tricks
Milo is adorable and clever, and we’ve definitely come a long way even if we haven’t quite been learning as many tricks as I had planned. We had the big change with him having the snip and his behaviour on the whole has been much improved ever since. That horny little devil monster rarely if ever shows his face so we mostly get to enjoy adorable dorky water-loving Milo.
He’s definitely learned/mastered a few tricks:
- A much stronger grasp of Wait
- Spin
- And Milo can now officially swim (not that I taught him that)
So, we’ve managed about half of what I’d planned to get him to learn in the time span so far, but equally he’s probably learned way more than I’ve given him credit for considering he knows exactly where the hose is, what it does, and when it is time to play with it and he doesn’t want to take no for an answer. God I love this little bundle of fluff so much.
Read 12 books including The Poetic Edda and the Pearl Manuscript
This one has been a major success. So far this year I’ve read 21 books, smashing my goal of 12 books by 9 before we’re even halfway through the year and that included the entire Poetic Edda and Pearl Manuscript. It’s been great getting a real mixture of reading in this year from the Howl’s Moving Castle trilogy to the Foundation Trilogy to all of Heartstopper and Alice Oseman’s novels and novellas and more.
God I love reading.
Books to read
Clear at least half of my film watchlist
I think I’m just really good at clearing backlogs when I set my mind to it. So far, I’ve managed to watch 87 films from my backlog, a whopping 22 more than my goal for the entire year; and that’s not even counting the films I hadn’t even planned on watching which has taken my film count up to 98 for the year so far.
There’s actually a strong possibility I’ll be able to make it through the entire list before the year is out as I’ve got under 50 left and some of those aren’t even out yet.
Films to watch
In terms of my goals, it really has been a tale of three parts. One part has been over-achievement and excitement, one has been happiness and learning, and the last part has been disappointment and failure. Still, while I may have been having a rollercoaster of a time over the last 6 months, I have managed to complete some of those goals I wanted to and that means I have more time to focus on the goals that need a bit more attention if I’m to stand any chance at completing them this year.
We shall see what happens, but all in all, I just hope the rest of the year improves.
