Hey, all!
Ok - we have stuff to talk about. Get ready for a long post, but I gotta get this written down.
At the beginning of the year (or the end of last year), I mentioned some big goals I had for blogging, reading etc.
If you've been following me for a while, well, you'll see that most of these goals didn't exactly go to completion...
So today, I'm going to post a 2017 recap - what I managed to get done, what I missed out on, and why that might be the case.
So I'm a big believer in the 'bad news first' deal. So before I go on about what I managed to get done, I'm going to go over why I've been mostly MIA this year.
Some deep stuff I needed to write down
First, I want to apologize for my blogger attitude. As bloggers, we give opinions on what we read, and we agree to read books authors and publishers send us before publication. I've been really slow with all of this in 2017, both the reading and reviewing aspect. The number of NetGalley ARCs I need to read is kind of incredible...
I also have not been visiting other blogs as much as I would have liked to. Those of you who have blogs, I love what you write, and I hope that you keep blogging so well! I'm sorry that I haven't had much of an opportunity to visit your sites, I'll do my best to change that :)
My Goodreads goal was 70 books. I read 60 last year so I figured it was possible to get to 70. As of now, I made it less than halfway. I didn't lose interest in reading, on the contrary! Sometimes all I want to do is sit down for a week and do nothing but reading.
Now for something more personal - life has been unusual this year. A lot of it has to do with university - I've always been a fairly good student, until last winter when I realized that I needed to take an extra year of classes to go into the master's program I want to apply for. Since then, I've been finding it increasingly difficult to pass my courses, to the point where I fail exams more often than I pass them. As a result, I've been putting reading, blogging, and archery aside - my three biggest hobbies - in order to try to pass classes that I end up failing. This brought back some insecurities in my mind, which just increased stress in the long run.
Now, I'm not falling into any mental illness, such as depression - (In fact, the past two years, I have been doing incredibly well! My confidence grew, as did my self-comfort and my regards to other people. I'm happy in my own skin, and with the people around me, and for once I'm not afraid of being on my own in the future, or of growing up!) - I just feel constantly caught up with time, and have been putting too many responsibilities into my own hands, such as extra classes, being the co-chair of a committee, extra working hours, driving classes, and starting my thesis early. "That's life", as some say.
I was talking about this recently with a good friend of mine, and the discussion boiled down to something I had not thought of. Maybe all of this has been happening because I somehow messed up my balance between uni and the things I enjoy. I used to read and blog constantly, in such a way that it actually helped me focus on university. Maybe I studied more efficiently when I took more time to do what I enjoyed because I had less time to study all the fluff? It makes sense...
Therefore, my resolution for 2018 might sound counterproductive, but I think I'll be better off if it works: to put more priority into doing the things enjoy. I'll be blogging more, reading more, putting more hours into archery - maybe even find a local coach! I have some cake recipes that I've been wanting to try for years! And, as much as I honestly enjoy learning about my courses, maybe taking a break from them will make me enjoy it all more.
What I Accomplished in 2017
I don't know if I ever mentioned this on here, but 17 has always been my lucky number. Not too sure why, but it's never failed me.
Although I've been trying to figure out everything that I wrote about above, I did have a pretty decent year!
Bookish
- I read books
- I kept up my Instagram! It grew a lot and I cannot believe how much support I am getting through it!
- I organized a Dutch Bookstagram Meetup with some of the loveliest instagrammers and bloggers I know! Please go follow @Anniekslibrary, @sortingdays, and @sneirrbooks!
- I was albe to represent some lovely companies! Please please check them out!
Non-Bookish
- I narrowed down what my passions in education are! I'm applying to a Masters in Physical and Material Chemistry, with a minor in Astronomy! It's going to be a bit difficult for me as I'm not very mathematically inclined, but I am not afraid to take more time to learn.
- I got an awesome thesis topic to work on - Sgr A*, the black hole in the center of the Milky Way!
- I visited London which is now one of my favorite big cities.
- I jumped off a 9m cliff into a river for a canyon tour which was one of my year's highlights!
- I figured out that not all people are going to judge for no reason, and that I could be myself without worrying what people think.
- I traveled around the Netherlands some more and explored some places in France
- I watched all of Friends, no shame, at all
- I managed to take and pass some classes that I believed would be incredibly difficult for me.
I hope that you are enjoying the holidays, no matter where you are from, what you celebrate and what you believe in! No matter what, we are all going into a new year in a few days, and I hope that 2018 is everything you hope it will be.
Stay bookish, and thank you for this year!
Ok - we have stuff to talk about. Get ready for a long post, but I gotta get this written down.
At the beginning of the year (or the end of last year), I mentioned some big goals I had for blogging, reading etc.
If you've been following me for a while, well, you'll see that most of these goals didn't exactly go to completion...
So today, I'm going to post a 2017 recap - what I managed to get done, what I missed out on, and why that might be the case.
So I'm a big believer in the 'bad news first' deal. So before I go on about what I managed to get done, I'm going to go over why I've been mostly MIA this year.
Some deep stuff I needed to write down
First, I want to apologize for my blogger attitude. As bloggers, we give opinions on what we read, and we agree to read books authors and publishers send us before publication. I've been really slow with all of this in 2017, both the reading and reviewing aspect. The number of NetGalley ARCs I need to read is kind of incredible...
I also have not been visiting other blogs as much as I would have liked to. Those of you who have blogs, I love what you write, and I hope that you keep blogging so well! I'm sorry that I haven't had much of an opportunity to visit your sites, I'll do my best to change that :)
My Goodreads goal was 70 books. I read 60 last year so I figured it was possible to get to 70. As of now, I made it less than halfway. I didn't lose interest in reading, on the contrary! Sometimes all I want to do is sit down for a week and do nothing but reading.
Now for something more personal - life has been unusual this year. A lot of it has to do with university - I've always been a fairly good student, until last winter when I realized that I needed to take an extra year of classes to go into the master's program I want to apply for. Since then, I've been finding it increasingly difficult to pass my courses, to the point where I fail exams more often than I pass them. As a result, I've been putting reading, blogging, and archery aside - my three biggest hobbies - in order to try to pass classes that I end up failing. This brought back some insecurities in my mind, which just increased stress in the long run.
Now, I'm not falling into any mental illness, such as depression - (In fact, the past two years, I have been doing incredibly well! My confidence grew, as did my self-comfort and my regards to other people. I'm happy in my own skin, and with the people around me, and for once I'm not afraid of being on my own in the future, or of growing up!) - I just feel constantly caught up with time, and have been putting too many responsibilities into my own hands, such as extra classes, being the co-chair of a committee, extra working hours, driving classes, and starting my thesis early. "That's life", as some say.
I was talking about this recently with a good friend of mine, and the discussion boiled down to something I had not thought of. Maybe all of this has been happening because I somehow messed up my balance between uni and the things I enjoy. I used to read and blog constantly, in such a way that it actually helped me focus on university. Maybe I studied more efficiently when I took more time to do what I enjoyed because I had less time to study all the fluff? It makes sense...
Therefore, my resolution for 2018 might sound counterproductive, but I think I'll be better off if it works: to put more priority into doing the things enjoy. I'll be blogging more, reading more, putting more hours into archery - maybe even find a local coach! I have some cake recipes that I've been wanting to try for years! And, as much as I honestly enjoy learning about my courses, maybe taking a break from them will make me enjoy it all more.
What I Accomplished in 2017
I don't know if I ever mentioned this on here, but 17 has always been my lucky number. Not too sure why, but it's never failed me.
Although I've been trying to figure out everything that I wrote about above, I did have a pretty decent year!
Bookish
- I read books
- I kept up my Instagram! It grew a lot and I cannot believe how much support I am getting through it!
- I organized a Dutch Bookstagram Meetup with some of the loveliest instagrammers and bloggers I know! Please go follow @Anniekslibrary, @sortingdays, and @sneirrbooks!
- I was albe to represent some lovely companies! Please please check them out!
- I was a part of the Boekhandel Dominicanen's group Young Adult Dome, that introduced me to great books, events and people
- I helped organize a huge Harry Potter party that even made the local news!
- I worked with lovely authors
Non-Bookish
- I narrowed down what my passions in education are! I'm applying to a Masters in Physical and Material Chemistry, with a minor in Astronomy! It's going to be a bit difficult for me as I'm not very mathematically inclined, but I am not afraid to take more time to learn.
- I got an awesome thesis topic to work on - Sgr A*, the black hole in the center of the Milky Way!
- I visited London which is now one of my favorite big cities.
- I jumped off a 9m cliff into a river for a canyon tour which was one of my year's highlights!
- I figured out that not all people are going to judge for no reason, and that I could be myself without worrying what people think.
- I traveled around the Netherlands some more and explored some places in France
- I watched all of Friends, no shame, at all
- I managed to take and pass some classes that I believed would be incredibly difficult for me.
I hope that you are enjoying the holidays, no matter where you are from, what you celebrate and what you believe in! No matter what, we are all going into a new year in a few days, and I hope that 2018 is everything you hope it will be.
Stay bookish, and thank you for this year!
I know how you feel. I let school and other things take away my reading and blogging time this year as well. Thanks for writing this post, and I hope to have the same goal as you.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to hear that even though you had a rough year, you found some things to be happy about and things to be proud of, Caroline. I'm also in university and I totally understand the struggle of having to balance everything but, like you, I tended to put school first for a long time because I thought that it was more important (I mean, I am paying a lot of money to be in school so it should be a priority, right?) but you're completely right; balance is the key! Burnouts don't help anyone. Your thesis topic sounds so, so cool! I've always been interested in Astronomy and Physics but I chose to do Biology and English as my programs. Good luck with your new resolution, Caroline! Sending you dozens of hugs!
ReplyDeleteLaura @BlueEyeBooks
Hi Laura! Thanks for your comment, it made me smile :) My thesis started full-on now, and despite the fact that it's a lot of work, I find it fascinating!
DeleteMany hugs to you too! <3
Heh, I'm in the exact same boat as you. I have no idea what happened to my blog during 2017 expect that uni life began taking over and reading started feeling less and less like a priority or a means to relieve stress. But it seems that we both have the same 2018 New Years resolution: to put more time into doing what we love! I picked up a book for the first time in ages, and literally everything felt so much better afterwards! You're right: balance is the key, and I wish us both the best in keeping it that way for the year! :)
ReplyDeleteHere's to a better 2018 for the both of us! :D
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