My 2018 Solutions

Happy March! Thinking about the spring solstice approaching makes me giddy for the days ahead. Recently, I gave time to reflect about my yearly solutions.
While setting goals at the turn of a new year is exciting and popular, I prefer to call my yearly intentions, “solutions”, rather than “resolutions”.

Solutions > resolutions.

Why? Resolutions imply repetition, which can imply initial failure. While failure is great and meaningful, by calling our goals “resolutions”, I find that we are framing ourselves with the likeliness of failing. Intentional language is critical to me, and I hope to write another post about it soon.

In the meantime, I hope y’all enjoy this list of my 2018 solutions and the little blurbs of each one. This is not the full list, but just the pieces I wanted to share.

To not eat beef.
No, I’m not a vegetarian, vegan, and/or any -an, I would like to eventually but am easing into food transitions. I’m unable to cut off certain food groups cold turkey (hahah, get it?), but eliminating beef from my diet was an immediate decision in the new year.
I entered 2018 attending an environmental conference, where conversations about ethical and environmental food choices were discussed. A key contributor to these dialogues was meat consumption, specifically in regards to cattle. Beef production has a massive footprint on our Earth and is a well-known source for methane. If interested, check out this video. It’s short, sweet, somewhat sarcastic, and has a ton of infographics.

To donate what I naturally have.
This sounds bizarre, because when people think about donation, they think about unwanted material items. This year, I wanted to expand upon my experience with donating, and am choosing to donate my hair and blood. That is what I mean by donating what I naturally have.
Donating my hair is not new to me, as I have donated in the past with Pantene Great Lengths. Donating hair is refreshing and an unique experience, but with the length of hair often required, it can be a time consuming option. Through researching different avenues to donate hair, I came across Matter of Trust. I will be cutting my hair soon and I hope to post about how the donation process goes.
Donating my blood is new for me, and I successfully donated roughly 600ml on the 8th. The process was quick, not as painful as expected, and rewarding. I hope to donate what I can, when I can, for those who need my “natural resources” more.

To say “no” more.
I am incredibly guilty of saying yes to any opportunity that comes my way. I want to be more experienced, involved, and inspired, and I grab more food for my plate than I can fully digest. To be able to say “yes” and “no” are both skills that I want to sharpen my skills in. By saying “no” more often, I would like to pour more time into “yes” and also give myself breathing time throughout the day to take a minute to reflect and zone out. I’ve been feeling crammed lately, and would like to alleviate that tension from myself soon.

To expand on this blog.
This blog was an endeavor of my own, a new writing platform that I wanted to pursue and reach to new communities with. The intention for this blog was to originally write in bullet points of 3’s and to summarize my ideas in a consistent manner. Through writing more in this format, I realized that I shouldn’t set restraints to my own thoughts, and with this, I wrote A Writing Reset. It was a transition that needed to be wrote out, and I’m feeling much happier with the thoughts I’m able to share.

To purchase my own plane ticket.
For every flight I’ve boarded so far, the airline costs have always been paid by someone else within my family. With turning 20 this year, I want to make significant purchases for myself, which includes buying a large monstera plant and my own plane ticket. I’ve traveled independently before, but going through the process of buying my own ticket would be a step closer to a more fulfilling and autonomous opportunity for travel.

To be more naturally-conscious with my skin.
My experience with treating my acne-heavy skin has been an adventure of its own, with multiple products and remedies trialed. From Proactiv to Neutrogena to natural homemade washes, I now feel that I’m much closer to attaining the natural routine that I’ve been striving for since the 5th grade. My current routine consists of a JuiceBeauty cleanser, Clean & Clear moisturizer, and a plethora of Trader Joe’s products including: the apple cider vinegar for toner, Vitamin E. oil for nighttime moisturizing, and tea tree oil for spot treatment. By eliminating chemical-ridden products, I’ve noticed my skin to enjoy the natural products more, with acne bumps evening out and scars fading away. Using natural products aligns much closer to my personal values, and I would like to perfect this routine by the end of this year.

What are your solutions for 2018? Feel free to share!

With much love,
Monet.

Featured image for this blog post: a layout of my planner cover. For 2018, I decided to write my solutions on the outside of my planner, so that I constantly view it. Seeing my written solutions reminds me of what I am working towards and milestones I want to achieve. Planner is from muji.com.