Clean Slate.

I think of Christmas as a big, huge, festive celebration before to say good bye (sometimes more enthusiastically) to the last 12 months and to look forward to making the coming year (a) / (an even) better one. We start fresh and dive into the next 12 months of working hard, making memories and accomplishing a new set of goals or revisiting old ones we did not get around to (but still aim to) checking off our to-do list. Christmas is perfectly timed, giving us a week's time to wipe the clean slate and start with a blank canvas, so long as our attitude and mentality permits us to move forward.

Aside from the usual...
Eating Less Meat. Last night in bed, I actually pictured myself being vegetarian but I couldn't give up seafood {cocktail shrimp! cold crab! fried fish!} and Lola's Kitchen's Turkey Melt sandwich. I even went on their website to give you the exact description {TURKEY MELT Shaved roasted Ontario turkey breast with pickled red onion, cranberry mustard & double creme brie cheese on grilled multigrain bread with arugula & balsamic syrup. 13 Brieeee! SO yum. Need I say more?}
Exercising more. Do Yoga. Walk the park. Swiffer the house.
Generally being more healthy. This means no more excessive bubble tea, indulging in sweets like chocolate, hiding bags of chips and crisps in the cupboards and to STOP using the computer by 10pm, which means being in bed by midnight.

Five things I'd like to work on in the coming year include:

1. Decluttering my life. In a current state of 'stuck' this simply does not help!

2. Stop using hot/scalding hot water while washing face, hands, hair, body. This dries out my skin so bad and promotes premature aging! I'm getting better at lowering the temperature in the sense that I no longer fog up my bathroom (that much) anymore but I honestly feel like it's an addiction that is hard to wean off...

3. Start consistently moisturizing my skin, especially because of point #2. I have a lot of products because I'm a huge collector of stuff (especially if they come in pretty packaging :), but my beauty routine, if you can even call it that is pretty low maintenance. I bought these huge 300ml Aloe Vera (92%) Soothing Gel from Nature Republic on sale in Taipei, and I like it for the simple fact that it's aloe vera = good for skin, and it's less perfume-y, seems more natural and probably has less chemicals that your skin can do without, than say, the body lotions from Bath & Body Works.

4. Sit cross-legged less often (I'm currently in this position as I'm typing away. SOM!). Honestly, I think this is even harder than #2 and #3 combined. I need one of those office chairs that simply wouldn't even give me enough space to sit like that. I had no problem with sitting like a normal person when I was at work, so this might be the one crucial investment I would have to make in the new year. That, and a smart phone. I wouldn't mind a tablet either... and a DSLR... and a better laptop and... :)

5. Working on this blog as a side project while working full-time, living on my own and coming to terms with myself. I honestly felt that by the time I reached this point in my twenty-something years of life, I would have achieved more and had more to show for. Sometimes I can't help but wonder if I've been pushing myself away from who I am meant to be, rather than embracing it; because I fear of what negative outcomes might come from it. Or am I just afraid of disillusioning myself and what I have been insisting to be reality; really is not? Maybe it's the tiger child in me, but I have been feeling just an overwhelming wave of restlessness combined with a resurfaced thirst for recklessness. Time will only tell.