Looking Back and Looking Forward

Does anyone else feel like 2022 was a bit of a whirlwind? When I started out the year (and several times throughout), I felt like I was going to get myself back on track and all the things would magically come back to me like normal. Each time it lasted for short bouts, with some lasting longer than others. In a typical year, my reading goal is 100 books. This year was no different. But while that number is usually what I try to stick around to so that I don’t over read, this year I didn’t even make it. By a long shot. I still read 68 books. Which to many is an accomplishment, but to me it screams that I just want to be able to get my focus back. And don’t get me wrong… I LOVE books still. And I want to read them all. I just haven’t been sitting down to do it. And it takes me longer than normal to do so as well. Very few books this year have I read as fast as my “norm”.

And see, this is the time of the year when everyone makes big plans for all of the exciting things they are going to do next year. So often I’ve been that person lately, and then I fizzle and die out because I’m overwhelmed. So ya know what? This coming year I’m going to be a little bit different. Yes, there are changes I want to make so that I can get back in the swing of things with my blog and reading (I miss them both terribly… I really, really do). But I also need to give myself grace, or I’m going to fail before I even get started. So for 2023, my personal word for the year is Grace.

One thing I want to do a bit differently, is sharing some more personal, encouraging posts. Back in the day I was sharing His Encouragement Thursday posts. I enjoyed doing them, but I also easily got stuck on the day. And to say I’ve been through a lot the last two years… well… I won’t go there at the moment. But I want to start sharing some more encouraging posts with a bit more of a journalistic feel to hopefully connect more with some readers.

If you know me personally outside of my blog, you probably already know that I have been working on some writing of my own, and that is also a part of the reason why my reading has dipped a bit this year, as I’ve been focusing on that as well. I just recently attended my first in-person writing retreat, and have had a few brainstorming sessions with writing friends to work some kinks out. So you  might also see me sharing some writing journey updates throughout the year as well.

As I mentioned above, I read 68 books this year out of my goal of 100. I’m planning on keeping my goal the same for next year, and just hoping I get my groove back. My TBR truly is getting a bit out of hand haha. I am working on finalizing my favorites list and will probably post that in the next couple days or so. But for now, if you want to snoop at my 2022 reading year feel free to check it out by clicking the image below 🙂

Happy New Year Everyone!