Good morning, cyberspace!
I can’t believe we’ve already made it to another December, let alone another Christmas. (it’s the day before Christmas Eve as I write this. who knows when it will actually be published.) It feels like just yesterday I was making a whole slew of goals and hopes and dreams for 2024, and now we’re at the end of it. Dare I even pull up my post from last year? Dare I compare my goals to what was actually accomplished?
In the words of the dearly departed Severus Snape…
If you are interested in reading the post at length, you can do so here. I will warn you, however–this was written in a time of my life where I put very little thought into that which I was posting. Let’s call it the dark ages of my blogging career…
Anyway, there is one thing I do enjoy about that blog post, and it is the quote that I picked to encompass 2024:
My family doesn’t do resolutions. I used to, back when I was young and spry and thought I could actually keep up with my own expectations of how one should be. But nowadays I follow my family’s tradition of choosing a word. Or–as I like to break rules and presumably cause as much chaos as possible–a bookish quote handpicked from my favorite pieces of literature. Sometimes, like today, I decide to go with both. Because why not. *shrug*
My word this year is create. At first I thought this word was too generic. “Create” is a word that’s thrown around so often now that it’s almost lost its magic. But the more I thought about it, the more I feel that’s exactly why I should pick it. I want to create in 2024. I want my walls to be filled with scribbles and paintings and little bits of stories. I want my desk to be a mess because it’s actively filled with the workings of my mind. I want this to be a year where I find joy in the creation of stories. Many stories. All of the stories. Create may be a simple word, but I simply want to create. And I think a simple word is exactly what I need to keep my focus.
As far as quotes go, I decided to find one from my favorite book of all time, ALICE IN WONDERLAND. Coincidentally, I plan on rereading this book this month, so I feel it’s only fitting to quote it here and now in the beginning of the year.
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where—” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
“—so long as I get somewhere,” Alice added as an explanation.
“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”Lewis Carroll, ALICE IN WONDERLAND
This might be a weird quote to pick–not to mention the length of it, which is terrifying–but when I read this, I can almost picture myself standing there, having a conversation with the Cheshire Cat. Not about walking, of course, but about my writing. I often get so caught up in the logistics of where my stories should go that I simply forget the most important part–to start. And then, almost harder still, to keep going until I get somewhere.
So I love this quote, not only because it comes from one of my favorite characters, but because it’s so true. Walk long enough in a direction–any direction–and eventually you will get somewhere.
In true Kenzie fashion, I completely forgot that I had chosen a quote for the year. I vaguely remember saying I wanted create to be my word, but as far as the Alice quote goes… nope. No memory of this place.
It is, however, an exceptionally great quote, and one that oddly applies to the year that I’ve had! This year has been a tumultuous one. It’s been up, it’s been down. At one point I’m fairly certain it did a whoop-de-doo and a dosey-doe. And yet I’m still here, clinging on like the last leaf of autumn. It’s been a wonderful year, too. One of adventure and friendship and learning. I’ve learned oh-so much about what it takes to live on your own, what it means to be a friend.
I’ve started college. I’ve stopped writing and started writing and stopped writing and blogged a little. I’ve learned that life comes and goes in waves, as does laundry. I’ve started to like who I am, just a little, and realized that my dreams of being a writer will only come true once I buckle in and do the work needed. So that’s what I’m doing–buckling in and doing the work needed.
I didn’t create as much as I wanted to this past year. I’ve written a few little stories, but nothing noteworthy. Strangely enough, it’s been this past month that I’ve started creating again. I guess you could say that summer and the fall semester took a lot out of me. I’m on winter break now, and I can feel myself becoming much more me-ish as the days go forward. Funny how that works, isn’t it?
Anyway, I’ve decided that for 2025, I am once again going to select a quote as my mantra for the year. This one is not exactly literary, though it does hail from George Eliot (who, I am sorry to say, I’ve never read anything by. Perhaps in 2025…):
“It is never too late to be what you might have been…”
– George Eliot
WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN…
Do you ever feel like you missed it? I’m not sure what “it” is, really. Just that it’s something constantly dangling over my head, always a touch out of reach. I swat at it quite often but never catch it.
Sometimes I wonder what might happen if I had tried a little harder when I was younger. Sometimes I fear that my regrets are beginning to take the place of my dreams, that the spark which was once admired is now dwindling.
Sometimes, when I write these sorts of blog posts, I delete them two days later because I don’t believe that anyone will actually want to read them, these strange little thoughts of mine. There is a graveyard in my trash folder, words which will never be read. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I’d released them to the void…
SYSTEMS>GOALS
I saw something recently which said it’s better to set systems instead of goals. This way, we’re actually holding ourselves accountable to a daily attitude which promotes consistency rather than abstract mentalities. I’ve begun to put this into effect over the past few weeks, just to see if it was something I could practically add to my life–believe it or not, it’s made a huge difference. Using this mentality, I’ve created some systems that I’d like to implement in 2025. Many of them are creative goals–this is because creativity is something I want to bring back into my life in the new year.
It’s been way, way too long. It’s time to make some changes, methinks.
SYSTEM ONE – WRITE 30 MINUTES A DAY
I’m not holding myself accountable to writing anything specific. It could be journaling. It could be blogging. It could be finally getting on top of that novel that’s been threatening me for the past 5 years. All I care about is taking 30 minutes out of my day to write something. After a while, those 30 minutes will begin to add up.
On top of this, I’d very much like to go back to tracking the words I write every day. I’ve gotten away from that–more than likely because I haven’t been writing at all lately–and it’s something I miss. 2025 would be a great time to start that up again, I think.
I do, of course, have book goals for the year–little stories that are demanding, as always, to be written. For a while now I’ve been keeping them in my pockets, too scared to actually do anything with them because I’ve been afraid of not just failure, but also success. I was called out on the latter earlier this month. It caused me to take a good long look at my priorities.
SYSTEM TWO – READ EVERY DAY
Again. Something super easy that somehow seems to fall by the wayside whenever I get busy. I love reading. I’ve read four books since the beginning of December. It’s one of those things that relaxes me, helps me feel centered, and motivates me to write stories of my own. I truly believe that God has placed books into my life because His desire is for me to help create and share them. Staying consistent in my reading life will help keep that spark of creativity alive and burning.
SYSTEM THREE – READ MY BIBLE EVERY MORNING
I wish I could say that this is something I don’t struggle with–it’s not. Sometimes I forget that the most important story for me to read is the one which was given to us by the creator of the universe.
I’ve tried turning my bible reading into a system in the past, electing to read it at night before bed, or in the morning right when I wake up. Neither one has truly stuck. I don’t know precisely where I’m going to put it in my morning routine, but I do know that if there’s something I need in the morning, it’s a whole lotta Jesus and a whole lot less of myself.
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much…”
Luke 16:10a
I know it’s only three systems so far, but I think keeping it simple at the start of the year is best. Sometimes I pack way too much into my one little life, and I’m learning–albeit slowly–to take things one step at a time. See how you do with a little, then adjust.
If there’s one thing the Lord has been telling me over the past few weeks, it is that I need to start being faithful in the little things. The daily things. The things which might not seem like much from the outward perspective, but inwards make all the difference. I think, when it comes to the creativity that He has given me, it’s these three things that I need to focus on for the first part of 2025.
Writing. Reading. Spending time in His Word.
If I can do that, I think 2025 will be one of the best years I’ve ever lived.
TALK TO ME, PEASANTS!
What is something you’re excited for in 2025?
Mackenzie K. Writes 
Talk To Me, Peasants!