Twenty Nineteen Resolutions

Happy 2019 darlings! Is anyone ready to start the new year and make it even better than ever? I know I am. As you read this I am in New Orleans with my best friend and family. We're cheering on Texas tonight in the Sugar Bowl. We'll probably lose to Georgia, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to ring in the new year in a place like NOLA. It's going to be a year of experiencing, I can already feel it. Below are my five resolutions for 2019, some will be easier than others, some I might fail. But you have to start somewhere don't you?  Let me know what your resolutions are below and I hope your first day of 2019 is magical - xoxo darling, Hayden.

Take Better Care of Myself

If you've been reading the blog for any amount of time you'll know I hate cliche resolutions. You will not see on this blog "lose weight" because I like making achievable goals. This is not to say, I shouldn't take care of myself. And not in the sense that I'm doing a horrible job but I need to remember to put lotion on every night, moisturize my face every day and drink enough water. I need to put myself ahead of other things in my life because I haven't done that. Self care has been a huge topic in the last three years and I think it's high time I take notice. I'm working on it, I promise.  So here is to better skin and taking care of myself.

Be More Vulnerable

One of the hardest things for me is to express my emotions. And it has no real explanation, I come from an incredibly loving family and I am very happy in my life. But when people want to talk about feelings I clam up like a British person from the 1700s. It's just really hard for me to feel comfortable talking about how I feel (unless it's an obvious emotion like happiness or anger). At the tail end of 2018 I was confronted with new feelings about someone in my life and I realized I actually had to process them. No more putting them under the rug, because that person would need an answer at some point. And my best friend helped me through it...but it made me realize this is an under-grown part of myself. It's high time I work on expanding it, work on talking more about how I'm feeling and work on being okay with discussing not just my friends emotions, but my own in a public setting.  So here is to being more vulnerable. 

Be a Better Feminist

I will fully admit to writing this particular goal right after I saw On the Basis of Sex so forgive me if this idea seems half-baked. But I truly feel like I haven't ever lived up to my potential of feminism. And that makes me mad. There is so much I could be doing/should be doing to continue the ideas our foremothers fought so hard for. I've already joined the AAUW chapter (and I'm working on joining the League of Women Voters in 2019), but I want to find more opportunities to help women gain equal pay and equal respect. Every year I realize how important equality is and we shouldn't stop until we get it. So here is to being a better feminist. 

Read + Watch More

Shouldn't this always be your goal? Isn't this always your goal? Yes to both questions. However, I've realized as of late I'm in a kind of rut. It's like I've stuck myself in a pool of hot glue and let it harden while I just stand and watch the same type of comedies and read the same types of mystery novels - not to say that those things are bad and don't worry, I will be bringing those habits into the new year. But I want to challenge myself more when it comes to what I'm reading and watching. I want to watch foreign films and documentaries and step into that oft dreaded territory of non-fiction. Now that I have the ability to read and watch things not just for escape from my college workload I should take advantage. You don't learn anything by just escaping...you must challenge, right? So here is to reading and watching more things that challenge us. 

Explore. 

Okay, let's be honest, I don't think I'm terrible at exploring anything. In fact, I think I'm better at it than most people, I am a travel writer after all. But now that I live in Denver and I won't be flying to Austin or Dallas or some other college football location it's time I get out and explore my new city. I've discovered some really cute places toward the end of 2018 and I know this place holds even more. Also, Colorado is one of the most beautiful places I've ever lived so I need to get out in the state and experience what makes Colorado great. This goal should not be a hardship, in fact, I'm excited to start. So here is to exploring more.  Good luck everyone!