It's theme time again folks! If you're not familiar with the theme system, go have a watch of the video in the post. It's short and sweet, and it describes an approach to making deliberate changes...
It gets earlier every year!
It's theme time again folks! If you're not familiar with the theme system, go have a watch of the video in the post. It's short and sweet, and it describes an approach to making deliberate changes to your life that are much less goal-oriented than you might be used to. The website is here although I'm slightly loathe to link it. You do not need a journal or a physical product to be able to participate in the theme system. Much like the Bullet Journal, it's about the framework and not having the correct products. You make it work the way you want it to, and not the other way around.
I've been doing this for years now. Past years have been years of authenticity, finances, and music. 2024 was the Year of Investment, in which I at the outset planned to dim my hobby bulbs a fair...
I've been doing this for years now. Past years have been years of authenticity, finances, and music. 2024 was the Year of Investment, in which I at the outset planned to dim my hobby bulbs a fair amount to be able to instead put time into my health, work, and social lightbulbs.
I had expected the year to contain a lot of focus on getting some IT qualifications that I could then use to springboard into a better paying job. Instead, I realised early on that I don't really want to do IT for the rest of my life. I am bored by the work, and it feels like a sufficiently solved problem in my head to the extent that I really struggled to want to study. I haven't been able to reach a conclusion as to what I would like to do instead yet, but that is going to be folded into 2025's theme I think.
It's been a pretty great year for my relationships with others, and honestly with myself as well. In focusing on my social lightbulb, I spent a lot more quality time with my daughter and family, and readjusted my relationship with my family members. I also met and fell in love with my girlfriend. Transitioning continues to go from strength to strength, and I am hoping to be moved onto a shared care pathway in the new year, meaning that I don't need to keep paying for private prescriptions and appointments.
Part of the planned investment was to buy my own home. I was sick of renting and of living in shared accommodation, and it is still just about cheaper to have a mortgage than it is to rent. I looked around, I moved back in with my parents to keep saving, I looked around some more, and I had an offer accepted on a cute little ground floor flat in a northern suburb of my city. But as time wore on and the process kept stalling (for more than 6 months in the end) I was growing closer and closer with my new partner and her children. We had several long and deep conversations about the future, and I decided that it was pointless to buy a flat that I wouldn't use for even a year before moving in with my girlfriend. Next year's theme needs to incorporate that process to some degree.
My hobby light was initially dimmed at the start of the year. The end of the Sir Curse project took me by surprise, but it's actually been quite nice to not have two bands on the go. The reclaimed time has been positive for my relationships, and and I have been able to put more time into playing D&D again, something which I hadn't really had the time or energy to do for a while, much less to DM. Approaching the end of the year, I feel it's a little dimmer than I would like. That's something I'd like to address with next year's theme.
Overall, 2024 was a pretty great year. The theme being investment meant that I was better able to weather changes to my expectations and frame things such as spending time with my family, friends, and partner as investment in those relationships. I feel an enormous sense of contentment and gratitude for how well the year has gone, and I hope that 2025 ends in a similarly peaceful and satisfied manner!
The Year of Clearing the Decks
I'm pretty confident that I have stolen this one from Grey himself, but it feels applicable to my life right now. I want a new career but I don't know what I want that to be. I want to spend more time reading and writing music, but I don't always have the opportunity to do so. I want to move in with my girlfriend, but (by her own admission) she has too much stuff for me to fit comfortably into her home as it exists.
Essentially this is an exercise in resetting some foundational things in my life; extracting time-sinks that no longer work for me, reducing the amount of replication in my day-to-day tasks, and making sure giving myself a clean(er) slate from which to spring from. I've still not fully figured out what this means for me, but it feels like my most resonant theme yet.
I've been doing these for the last year and a half! This year was my year of celebration (which in hindsight was a bit of knock on wood with the US elections) but I'm at that age where I've had 5...
I've been doing these for the last year and a half! This year was my year of celebration (which in hindsight was a bit of knock on wood with the US elections) but I'm at that age where I've had 5 planned (and 6 attended) weddings going into the year, and 2 planned (and 3 attended) bachelor parties. Learning how to celebrate and when not to celebrate with friends has definitely been something that has been interesting to learn about
I turn 30 in 2026, and my birthday is pretty early in the year, but I've been thinking of what I want to do and I can't really put it into words, for now I've been thinking of calling 2025 my year of "I've always wanted to". Focusing on completing things I've always wanted to do but always put off. One thing is a long half marathon or marathon. I'm not too sure what else I'm thinking of yet tbh but that's my initial thought!
It gets earlier every year!It's theme time again folks! If you're not familiar with the theme system, go have a watch of the video in the post. It's short and sweet, and it describes an approach to making deliberate changes to your life that are much less goal-oriented than you might be used to. The website is here although I'm slightly loathe to link it. You do not need a journal or a physical product to be able to participate in the theme system. Much like the Bullet Journal, it's about the framework and not having the correct products. You make it work the way you want it to, and not the other way around.
Previous discussions are here: 2022, 2023, 2024.
I've been doing this for years now. Past years have been years of authenticity, finances, and music. 2024 was the Year of Investment, in which I at the outset planned to dim my hobby bulbs a fair amount to be able to instead put time into my health, work, and social lightbulbs.
I had expected the year to contain a lot of focus on getting some IT qualifications that I could then use to springboard into a better paying job. Instead, I realised early on that I don't really want to do IT for the rest of my life. I am bored by the work, and it feels like a sufficiently solved problem in my head to the extent that I really struggled to want to study. I haven't been able to reach a conclusion as to what I would like to do instead yet, but that is going to be folded into 2025's theme I think.
It's been a pretty great year for my relationships with others, and honestly with myself as well. In focusing on my social lightbulb, I spent a lot more quality time with my daughter and family, and readjusted my relationship with my family members. I also met and fell in love with my girlfriend. Transitioning continues to go from strength to strength, and I am hoping to be moved onto a shared care pathway in the new year, meaning that I don't need to keep paying for private prescriptions and appointments.
Part of the planned investment was to buy my own home. I was sick of renting and of living in shared accommodation, and it is still just about cheaper to have a mortgage than it is to rent. I looked around, I moved back in with my parents to keep saving, I looked around some more, and I had an offer accepted on a cute little ground floor flat in a northern suburb of my city. But as time wore on and the process kept stalling (for more than 6 months in the end) I was growing closer and closer with my new partner and her children. We had several long and deep conversations about the future, and I decided that it was pointless to buy a flat that I wouldn't use for even a year before moving in with my girlfriend. Next year's theme needs to incorporate that process to some degree.
My hobby light was initially dimmed at the start of the year. The end of the Sir Curse project took me by surprise, but it's actually been quite nice to not have two bands on the go. The reclaimed time has been positive for my relationships, and and I have been able to put more time into playing D&D again, something which I hadn't really had the time or energy to do for a while, much less to DM. Approaching the end of the year, I feel it's a little dimmer than I would like. That's something I'd like to address with next year's theme.
Overall, 2024 was a pretty great year. The theme being investment meant that I was better able to weather changes to my expectations and frame things such as spending time with my family, friends, and partner as investment in those relationships. I feel an enormous sense of contentment and gratitude for how well the year has gone, and I hope that 2025 ends in a similarly peaceful and satisfied manner!
The Year of Clearing the Decks
I'm pretty confident that I have stolen this one from Grey himself, but it feels applicable to my life right now. I want a new career but I don't know what I want that to be. I want to spend more time reading and writing music, but I don't always have the opportunity to do so. I want to move in with my girlfriend, but (by her own admission) she has too much stuff for me to fit comfortably into her home as it exists.
Essentially this is an exercise in resetting some foundational things in my life; extracting time-sinks that no longer work for me, reducing the amount of replication in my day-to-day tasks, and making sure giving myself a clean(er) slate from which to spring from. I've still not fully figured out what this means for me, but it feels like my most resonant theme yet.
I've been doing these for the last year and a half! This year was my year of celebration (which in hindsight was a bit of knock on wood with the US elections) but I'm at that age where I've had 5 planned (and 6 attended) weddings going into the year, and 2 planned (and 3 attended) bachelor parties. Learning how to celebrate and when not to celebrate with friends has definitely been something that has been interesting to learn about
I turn 30 in 2026, and my birthday is pretty early in the year, but I've been thinking of what I want to do and I can't really put it into words, for now I've been thinking of calling 2025 my year of "I've always wanted to". Focusing on completing things I've always wanted to do but always put off. One thing is a long half marathon or marathon. I'm not too sure what else I'm thinking of yet tbh but that's my initial thought!