new year, new try

It's crazy to think that it's been almost a year since I've written anything on here. Written anything for myself period, really. I don't particularly believe in New Years resolutions - just another way to set yourself up for yearly failures? Or too pessimistic? I do, however, believe in occasionally trying something new. Or returning to something old.

2013 wasn't a great year. It wasn't terrible. I'm sure there have been worse. But it is definitely a year I would like to leave behind. Some things that went horribly wrong in 2013: my plans to move to South Korea fell apart, I had to move into an apartment out of my price range out of necessity, I changed jobs without increasing my pay scale (a mistake, I'm learning), my finances ultimately got a little out of hand (maybe that's a resolution? okay, not a resolution. but seriously, 2014 is the year that I regain control of the dollar), and various health issues got a little out of hand. Good things that happened in 2013? I went to the Sasquatch Music Festival in Washington, I saw my best friends in Montreal, I went with another best friend to Vancouver, and... that is all I can think of. Clearly, travel remains in my heart.

And what I'm already looking forward to in 2014? More travel.

Also, reading more books. Taking more pictures. Making more friends.

Not doing these things are all regrets that I have about the past. Sometimes it's hard to get out of regret-mode. You just can't stop thinking about the stuff that you didn't do in the past. That you didn't do adequately enough. Etc. Oftentimes I find my mind consumed with these regrets for things hat I can't change. And in this regret-mode, I'm ultimately wasting more time by continuing to dwell on the past and not move onward and work to do those things in the present. Sometimes it's unavoidable. But insomuch as I can, this will be the year that I avoid that negativity.

This will be the year that I start enjoying life.