Good Things: January 2024
Thoughts on accountability, annual themes, movie tunes, and other fun stuff from gill d.
Image above: a drawing of my favorite scarf and my favorite fox from the movie The Green Knight. This image has nothing to do with the words below, other than that it’s something I wanted to draw for a long time and really struggled to hold myself accountable for.
How to stay accountable
Happy New Year!! I know we’re already more than halfway through January at this point but if you’re anything like me it still feels like January 2nd and things are feeling nice and slow and cozy and reflective. Maybe its the cold rainy weather or just a side effect of starting a new calendar but I’ve been trying to cherish this transitional time by soaking up feelings of gratitude for the past year and hope for the future.
I’ve been gifted with a few 3-day weekends over the past couple months and I always find that having that extra day, though small, finally gives me the space I need to start feeling truly creative. During the work week I’ll fit in time to work on projects here and there (usually early mornings and after dinner) but the chunks of time are never long enough to truly tap into that creative well.
What I’ve noticed is that though I can accomplish “productive tasks” throughout the week (updating my website, doing a quick drawing for an email or client), when I get some of that juicy uninterrupted deep creative time I’m much more loose and exploratory. I follow my intuition, explore new materials, dive into research— basically I go down paths that seemingly lead nowhere but are actually the backbone of my creative practice.
The linear, productive side of me always wants me to be accomplishing things to make my “creative business” keep chugging along, but the true artist in me knows that, though seemingly less productive, the creative wandering is where the true meat is at. Of course I do still think the “productive tasks” are necessary and critical to getting projects done— so where does the balance lie and how do I keep myself accountable for both parts of the work?
The internet and my therapy training have given me lots of “accountability tools” including setting goals, creating a schedule, journaling, and setting small rewards to help me stay on track. Though I consistently set monthly and yearly goals and mark milestones down on my calendar, I struggle to create appropriate deadlines for myself. At the end of each month I find myself wondering how it felt so busy yet I accomplished so few of my goals.
One idea I’ve been exploring is starting an accountability group on Patreon where members can encourage each other, share ideas, and generally just keep each other on track on whatever it is they’d like to work on. Research has shown that having an “accountability buddy” can really help people stay on track*— whether sharing goals publicly, working alongside an accountability buddy, or simply being able to confide in a friend or family member about the struggles of getting things done. Creating this group would selfishly help me but I also wonder if it would be helpful for any of you?
Is this something you’d be interested in? Leave me a comment or reply to this newsletter if so! Here’s to getting some of our fun little projects done this year.
*”One US study found that you have a 65% chance of completing a goal if you tell someone else you’re committing to doing it. And if you have specific check-ins with a partner, your chance of success increases to 95%.” —via The Guardian
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Image above: a bit of one of Em Niwa’s gorgeous murals on the side of Sunshine Social in Australia
Featured Maker: Em Niwa
I recently discovered Em’s work via this gif, which I watched about 20x on repeat the first time I saw it. I love how Em is able to seamlessly blend nostalgic vibes with modern colors and themes to create pieces that are so uniquely her own. She also does live portraits which I’m always so impressed by! Listen just check her out!
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Image above: a sketch of two of the main characters from one of my fav movies of 2023, Quiz Lady.
January Playlist: Fav Movies of 2023
About halfway through this year I started tracking movies I watched on Letterboxed and I’m really loving it! Letterboxed is like Goodreads but for movies— you can rate and review what you watch, or just mark them as watched (and you can also keep a list of movies you’d like to watch in the future, my favorite feature!). And of course, it’s social— so add me!
Anyway, I was looking at the list of new movies I watched in 2023 and many of the memories I had were soaked in great music, so thought it would be fun to make a playlist of my fav 2023 releases as represented by a song from each. Let me know if you saw anything really great that didn’t make my list!
PAIN : King Princess (from Bottoms)
Country : Porches (from Priscilla)
Push : Maxbox Twenty (from Barbie)
How High The Moon : Les Paul & Mary Ford (from Asteroid City)
A Calf Born In Winter : Khruangbin (from The Holdovers)
PIMP : Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band (from Anatomy Of A Fall)
Le Monde : Richard Carter (from Talk to Me)
Murder On The Dancefloor : Sophie Ellis-Bextor (from Saltburn)
Growing Up : The Linda Lindas (from Quiz Lazy and Joy Ride)
I’ll Be : Edwin McCain (from Shotgun Wedding)
Image above: the word simple, simply written and circled
Recent Work: Simple (my “word of the year”)
Related to the rant on accountability above: I’ve still been having such a difficult time balancing all the things I’d like to spend my time on and prioritizing what I work on day to day. I’ve come to terms with the fact that if I’d like to actually finish projects, I’m going to have to set some goals, create some deadlines, and not just see where each day takes me—but this has been hard to do in practice!
What’s most challenging for me are all the different projects that I want to work on. Each time I sit down to make progress on something, I end up choosing a new thing, resulting in little to no noticeable progress being made in any one direction and absolutely no projects getting completed.
In choosing a “theme word” for this year, as I have for the past 5 years or so, this problem was at the top of my mind. This year, I really want to pair down the clutter in my life and brain and get some things done, so I chose to focus on “simple,” or as Adam puts it, “less is more 2024.” I always feel like I’m losing things or limiting myself by cutting things out, but really I’m gaining so much more by letting myself focus.
Are you choosing a word or theme for your year? I’d love to hear it!
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Image above: cute lil purple flowers with yellow circle centers
Some Other Good Things
A bath— you ever had one of these? Adam got me one of those little bath pillows and cleaned the tub and I took my first bath in YEARS and you know what: it was so great, highly recommend. Add a candle and some epsom salts for a real spa day!
Just finished Deadloch and it was so delightful! Recommended for fans of Aussie accents. Now watching Slow Horses as recommended by essentially everyone and am very hooked. Also very into the new True Detective, for fans of The Thing and all things arctic and ghosty.
This great newsletter recommended a popcorn popper as an essential item and though I’m very hesitant to add more gadgets to our already full kitchen, I realized it’s what my life has been missing. Do not regret! (Did you know popcorn is full of fiber? This is what I tell myself to justify all my snacking)
Also recommended in that newsletter: this “Trader Joes in 5 Items Or Less” cooking instagram account. Genius?!?!
Using ChatGPT to write a personal bio. I hate writing about myself so thought I would give this a try— I was skeptical but in less than a minute and with minimal input it created something so much better than I ever could have?!? Wow.
This meme (is it a meme if it’s a video? idk)
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Thanks for reading – see you next month!