A Year of ME

My name is Melissa and I'm a Nurturer. 

I nurture people to a fault.  I like to take care of people and fix their problems and make them feel better.  This is something I feel comes naturally to me.  What doesn't come naturally to me is taking care of myself.  Doing things that make me feel good.  In fact, doing things for myself is often associated with feelings of guilt that my time could better be spent on others.

Crazy isn't it?  I think this mindset affects a lot of people where you feel bad if you aren't doing something useful or helpful or doing something that is contributing to the household.  Well this year I've decided to change this mindset and start putting myself first for a change and you know what?  So far it feels really good!

Here are a few things that I've decided to focus on this year that means a lot to me;

Being Social

Yay for friends!  Yay for friends I haven't met yet!  I've spent the past couple of years living a hermit's life and frankly it doesn't suit me.  I want to go out!  I want to see friends and have tea and go to craft nights (I love you guys!) and just mingle with everyone.  This makes me amazingly happy.  Talking to people makes me happy and I hope that I'm bringing some of that positive energy everywhere I go.

Nurturing my Inner Writer

For as long as I can remember I've wanted to write something.  Anything!  Yet I never get around to it and I don't find the time.  This is silly.  There is plenty of time in the week to set aside a block to devote writing.  So I found the time.  Every Friday I'm going to be at the Coming Home Cafe from 9:30am to 11:30am typing my dreams into my little PC (you Mac users can bite it ha ha!) and see what comes out.  If you want to nurture your inner writer please come and join me.  Then I get to be social and write, wicked!  Mac users are welcome to of course.

Wrangling Finances

Oh money how we are a slave to thee.  I'm fairly conservative in my spending however I do have a couple of debts that I would like to pay down significantly.  I've coasted along just paying the minimum when I should have really paid attention to what I was doing.  This is the year where I'm going to take control of my finances and pay down as much debt as I can possibly do and to start tracking my spending habits.  I'm actually weirdly excited about this.  It's about taking care of my financial health and this really appeals to me!

Going with the Flow (Business Wise)

I've had my business Pretty Up Parties up and running for a couple of years now, it's fun and I really enjoy all the crafty parts of it.  When I first started the business I felt that I had to market it really aggressively.  This just did not sit well with me and I hated it.  For the past six months I've kind of taken a hands off approach to finding customers which I'm sure has not been beneficial financially but has done wonders for my mental well being.  This year I'm going to continue along this path and see where it takes me.  I believe things happen for a reason and I'm not going to try and force things anymore.

Committment Issues

It's not so much that I have trouble with committing to people, I just get really nervous filling up my week with scheduled things to do.  I want to change this and I want to embrace scheduling.  So far I'm meeting a wonderful friend twice a week at the gym (which is very exciting) and again I have scheduled the writers group to be a weekly thing.  It feels weird to know that I need to be at these place a certain number of times a week.  But I think it's a good thing!

Food Activism

I want to accomplish great things and make a difference in the world.  Doesn't everyone?  With this blog and The New Veganminster Project I hope to just that and have a little fun too.  I'm also so proud to be a part of the Vegan Party Directive an amazing group of like minded ladies with incredible talents.  Yay good food for everyone!

Share and Share Alike

Something that I've always done which is detrimental to my health I know is not talk to someone when I'm upset about an issue.  This is a big deal, it's bad to keep things bottled up!  This year for me is about communicating and learning how to communicate.  It's about being closer to my family and partner, it's about opening up and feeling safe to share my feelings, it's about brining my relationships to a whole new level of intimacy.  I want to be open to those who love me and I really look forward to sharing my feelings whether good or bad.  Although I suppose all feelings are good if communicated properly.

So there you have it.  A blog post by me for me and you know what?  I don't feel a bit selfish or guilty for writing it.  *happy*