Top Goals, Completed Goals, & Recap of 2017

After another lazy December, a new year has begun, so here's a recap of what I got up to in 2017, the goals I completed, and my top goals for 2018!

I'm going to shake up the format of these recap posts this time, and list my completed goals first:

17. Record myself singing and share it
26. Write 1 flash fiction per day for 1 month
31. Hold breath for 1 minute
36. Eat/drink in 30 new places
52. Crochet a hat
63. Learn a song in a foreign language
65. Complete a 365 Project
68. Send Happy Post to 5 people
80. Refashion/upcycle 3 items of clothing
82. Go on a day trip
95. Throw an axe

Bolded goal is from my top goals for 2017...didn't do so well with those this time, but I did work towards 4 other top goals.

I'll add a list of my top goals for 2018 at the end of this post.

January began with the starting of a brand new goal:

65. Complete a 365 Project

I'd wanted to get back into photography, and figured this was a good way to do it. Though it was a goal that would take a year to complete, and I wasn't sure I'd manage to take a picture every day, it seemed like a good challenge.

One of my top goals for 2017 was goal 53. Design 50 outfits.
I'd already begun the goal, but it wasn't until January that I started posting my designs, and drawing more! 
...and after that I drew one more, which I haven't posted yet. Oops.

I also continued working on goal 10. Visit 30 museums/art galleries/exhibitions with a trip to Horsham Museum, and goal 36. Eat/drink in 30 new places with a nice cup of tea and a slice of traybake at Brighton Fishing Museum Cafe.

Alongside those goals, I took the time to complete goal 52. Crochet a hat. It's a good hat.

January wasn't the happiest of months, so I'm honestly amazed I got this much done!

February was a quieter month, though I did go on a daytrip (goal 82) to Portsmouth/Southsea (goal 39. Explore 30 towns/cities/villages) and completed goal 36 when I tried some tasty bubble tea from a new place.

I also worked towards goal 80. Refashion/upcycle 3 items of clothing with the application of glitter to a pair of canvas boots.

Keep reading for the rest of the year, including my top goals for 2018 and my favourite photo of my 365 project!

Come March, I decided to start on a month-long goal:

026. Write 1 flash fiction per day for a month

This was pretty much all I did for the entire month. If January had been difficult, March was intensely stressful, and sinking into the world of fiction was honestly a relief.
Even if I did have to edit a lot of words out of what I wrote, so that it remained 'flash fiction'.
You can read them all on the Goal 26 Tag.  Some (ok, most) are odd little tales, and there's the occasional sequel to stories from Folk Tales from the Sea People, which I wrote in 2014 for goal 46. Write 10 original stories of 1000+ words.

April was another month where I didn't do all that much. What can I say, sometimes mental health kicks you hard up the arse and you've got to retreat a little and ride it out.

All I did was take photographs, which included the start of a new photography project, State of Mind, which counted towards goal 12. Complete three photography projects.

I'm still working on ideas for this project. It's getting to the point where I might have to start putting more effort (and money) into making props, so I might end up calling it 'complete'...

May was (and usually is) a busy month, owing to the Brighton Fringe Festival being on. This year, I'd got a Friends of Fringe membership so I could reap the benefits of a whole bunch of 2-for-1 tickets and go to more things with friends and family:
The Picture of Dorian Gray performed by Box Tale Soup
Moulettes concert at the Brighton Spiegeltent
Silent Disco Walking Tour with Guru Dudu
Pottery Throwing at The Painting Pottery Cafe
George Egg: Anarchist Cook (I will never look at a paper shredder in the same way).

Also went to an exhibition (goal 10) of Cathie Pilkington's work, which was part of Brighton Festival.

I started off June by going to see the comedic Accidental Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, which was followed by a meal at Las Iguanas, where I tried Xinxim, a Brazilian dish, for the first time! This kicked off goal 45. Try foods of 5 different countries.

June was the month I threw an axe (goal 95) at the South of England Show, collected the pot I'd made in May, and continued to work towards goal 10 and had a quality day out with my Dad at the Weald and Downland Living Museum.

Photography-wise, I experimented with multiple exposures, the result of which you can see towards the end of my June Roundup post.

July was an uneventful month. though I did complete goal 80 by refashioning a shrunken dress into a little waistcoat. (It's still a little small. I may refashion it again as yet!)

I tried out some dark reflection still life photography (above) after learning how it was done, and was pleased with the results! I also tried out vortography, which is photography with a triangular cylinder of mirrors--think kaleidoscopes and you're pretty much there!

July was also the month my cousin got married! Yay cousin!

In August, I took my favourite photo of my entire 365 project! (See above)
Aside from going to an anime convention (which I didn't blog about because it's the same thing each year) I didn't do much. Or even make the effort to do much. I was tired, and wanted to save my energy and money for the convention, which happened at the end of the month.

Well, at least I photographed a 'flying fish'!

I also updated the blog with new photos from my project, A Strange Pair (part of goal 12). There is still one photo I'd like to take for this project, but since I can't temporarily get my hands on one of the things I need for it (a lego block), I think I'm going to call this one complete.

I spent some time in September working on some things for a horror-themed window display. Being in a horror mood, this also seeped into some of my photography! I tried out low key photography for the first time (above) but also high-key photography.

Despite my inactivity during August and September, I worked a little towards goal 33. Memorise every country in Africa and goal 01. Fill a sketchbook with artwork/studies of only one subject. I'm seriously regretting choosing 'hands' as that subject--still can't draw them!

In October, I tried to get a little into the Halloween spirit with my photography, but this blog and my goals fell by the wayside.
I did at least complete one goal:

068. Send Happy Post to 5 people

People were happy with their random and unexpected packages, so I consider this not only completed, but a triumph, as the whole point of the goal was to put a smile on some faces!

I also made a horror-themed window display, and drew more hands for goal 01. By the time I'm done with that goal, I'm going to look like some kind of hand fetishist, aren't I? Oh dear...

November was my last super-active month of the year (because let's face it, December is all about preparing for Christmas, and end-of-year fatigue).

I went to Cuckfield Bonfire, had fun at Stylist Live, and rounded off the month with tasty food and far too much shopping at Hyper Japan Christmas!

I also put together a Christmas shop window display, and photoshopped, and got printed, new artwork for my wall:

He is my Dandy Alpaca, and he still needs a name.

On top of that, I continued trying to memorise the countries of Africa for goal #33. You'd think it was easy, but the continent has 54 countries--and I'm not only trying to remember the names, but their location on the map! Definitely not as simple as it first seems.

December was a month I tinkered with some long exposure and bokeh photography, since there were so many lights around! Some pictures had a good result, others not so much.

I completed three goals at the last minute, because I'd been putting them off. Merely because I was nervous of (and pushed out of my comfort zone by) sharing videos of myself as evidence that I'd completed the goal.

017. Record myself singing and share it
031. Hold breath for 1 minute
063. Learn to sing a song in a foreign language

 (These links go to aforementioned videos)

The very end of the year was also when I completed goal 65. Complete a 365 Project.
I've used my favourite photo for each month above each month's recap in this post, but my overall favourite remains the flying fish!

I also continued to try to learn those African countries, but damn if there isn't always those two that I forget each time. Always a different two, as well! Argh.

Looking towards this new year, here are my top goals for 2018

01. Fill a sketchbook with artwork/studies of only one subject
Already in progress, but very much neglected, so there's still a lot of sketchbook left!

03. Go to the cinema alone
A challenge to my motivation

10.  Visit 30 museums/art galleries/exhibitions
I've been working on this goal since ever, it should not be this hard. There are places I want to visit, but once again visiting them is a challenge to my motivation.

12. Complete 3 photography projects
Already in progress: I've started 2, and need that push to get them finished and start on the third.

27. Write 1 sonnet per day for a month
I had to put a writing goal there somewhere. This might be one I work on in March. March is a good month for writing.

30. Go out somewhere and compliment 5 strangers
Approaching strangers is scary. But I've always appreciated it when some random has complimented me when I'm out, so it's about time I pay it forward.

33. Memorise every country in Africa
I am almost there but keeping the information in my brain is proving difficult!

53. Design 50 outfits/costumes
This fell by the wayside last year. I'm halfway through this goal but haven't posted them all yet. This year, I want to finish it (and finally break into the gorgeous fashion design notebook my lovely friend Lianne gave me!)

74. Write 3 songs/piece of music and let people hear them
An immediate challenge because I have no idea how to go about writing songs or music. I opened up the Garage Band app and very quickly got very confused. Send help!

89. Make 3 items of clothing from patterns 
Another goal that's already in progress, as I've already made two garments. Which...I'm not sure I like anymore. Last year I had a lot of things I wanted to sew, but I never sewed any of it. This year, if I can make one of those things, I can call this goal completed!

Fingers crossed, I'll get these goals and more finished during 2018!
2017 kind of sucked. The universe owes us a good year.
Here's to 2018 being not just good, but awesome.