It's the Year of the Portal
2024 goals
Hello, friends! This is not a resolution. I am not here to tell you that you can expect to hear more from me in 2024. It’s simply a way to ring in the new year by shouting all of the goals I’ve set for myself. I love a new year, a clean slate, an empty page in the journal of life, but this year feels different. Twenty twenty-three was a great year, and there is not much I’d like to change in 2024. In fact, when asking myself what I’d like to get out of 2024 all I could come up with was more of what I already have. But it’s always wise to set some goals. It is the Year of the Portal, after all, so anything is possible (!!!!).
Like I said, 2023 was great! I moved to Boston, started school in Providence, visited Copenhagen — the list goes on. There’s not much that I would change about it, and for that I am so grateful. There were ups and downs of course, but my goals for this new year aren’t forms of punishment (like they definitely have been in the past). Maybe that’s just growing up. Yay!
So back to the portal. Yes, you heard it here first: 2024 is the Year of the Portal. Put all your thoughts and dreams into it, and the portal will deliver. The portal is a concept from my sister. She’s powerful (that’s both Maura and the portal). Maura puts her mind to something and (jokingly?) says “it’s in the portal” and then whatever it is that she wants to happen, well, happens. Some might call it ~the Law of Attraction~ and others might think it’s utter bullsh*t, but it works for Maura and other portal converts, so I’m going with it.
My goals for 2024
Goal #1: Stop picking out my hair. Most people don’t know this but I have suffered from compulsive hair pulling since he sixth grade. It all started when math class got to be a real hurdle. But this is the year I stop pulling my hair out. I just don’t have time for it, and I don’t want to be forty years old and unable to control stress.
Goal #2: Do workouts that make my body feel good! I am also too old to be sweating uncontrollably in a dark room and hating it. I know what I like to do, and I’d like to continue doing it this year. I just need a gentle reminder of that.
Goal #3: Find my personal style. Wearing a uniform to school has its benefits — like not having to think about a cute outfit for class at when I’m getting ready for the day at 5:30am. But — not to be dramatic— it has taken its toll on my closet. In 2023 I think I did a good job juggling the strategic office-admin-girly outfit to dinner-with-friends outfit turnaround, so I can definitely figure out how to not wear elastic waist pants and black nonslip shoes 24/7.
Goal #4: Develop my butchering skills. Not a goal most girls in their 20s are setting. That I’m sure of. But how SICK would it be to be able fabricate a whole leg of lamb or underside of a pig all by yourself?
Goal #5: Cook new dishes and flex my creative muscles. I actually already forgot about this one, but it’s in my journal portal, so it’s going to happen. Maura and I made 2024 vision boards on New Year’s Eve, and mine includes pictures of all the female chefs I admire, and then I dreamt I went to one of their restaurants and I just can’t stop thinking about it. Like, okay, portal, do your thing! But in all seriousness, this is something I need to work on. No more chicken and a pan sauce for dinner three times a week.
Goal #6: Read more. Santa got me a Kindle, so this is gonna be easy. Give me all the book recs.
Goal #7: Journal more. In high school I could not go a day without journaling, and somehow I went WEEKS without jotting down a thought in 2023. We don’t have the time or energy to think about maybe journaling before bed. We’re just journaling in 2024.
Goal #8: Make monthly goals. This is another habit from high school that I’m bringing back. I love a little list of actionable items.
And finally, Goal #9: Make friends and connect with the ones I have. I just mainly need more Boston-based people because it gets quite lonely in a city where you only know two people. I also intend to be a more thoughtful friend — replying in a timely manner, sending letters, being an overall better communicator.
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and that 2024 is off to a great start! Tata for now. Xoxo.
