Personal & Bookish Reflections on 2020!
Hello 2021! Goodbye 2020! As the new year begins, I’d thought I’d take some time to reflect on 2020 on a personal level, share some highlights, and discuss my bookish habits of last year.
2020 was incredibly rough year, and I know I’m not the only one that feels that way. While the year got off to a smooth start everything came to a halt once Covid hit, and since then it’s been lockdowns and restrictions . On top of Covid, we had the Election, Black Lives Matter Movement, and so much more (honestly there’s too much to right up in one post). There’s so much that happened even though times felt like a complete standstill.
I was stressed, sad, anxious, and kept trying to adjust to the “new normal” the best way that I could. I began working from home and it took some time to balance separating my work space from my personal. They started to fuse together and it only added to my overall stress levels. I’ve now found a lot of comfort from working at home and I am incredibly grateful to still be working.
On a positive note, I opened my Etsy shop which a passion project I had wanted to start for years. This is an amazing opportunity and I’ve learned so much from being a new small business owner. I’ve continued to pursue some writing projects and got the chance to do some fun write-ups for various websites. Even though it was hard not seeing friends and family, keeping in touch via Skype and writing letters to pen pals has been very beneficial during this time and it’s helped me to stay connected. I even joined a local book club and made some new friends.
I don’t set New Year’s resolutions anymore, but rather personal goals that I’d like to achieve throughout the year. I’m continually working harder on putting myself first, practicing more self-care, and trying/learning new things. My word for 2021 is “consistency”. I want to continue to finish projects that I’ve started and to see them through.
What about my 2021 bookish goals? I ‘m continuing to purge a lot of books from my collection and tried to tackle some of the books that have been sitting on my bookshelves for the longest. I want to read more audiobooks and finally share a bookshelf tour on the blog! I plan on adding lots of new content this year.
I set my Goodreads goal to 150 books and completed the challenge. This year I’ll be trying to read 180 books! I didn’t complete my board in Romanceopoly 2020 and I was so close to finishing my A to Z Reading Challenge. I did Start on Your Shelfathon hosted by The Quiet Pond in a effort to read some of the books on my bookshelves and reached my goal of 50 books! I’ll be sharing my reading challenges for the new year in a separate post.
To end my post, here are some of my highlights from 2020!
*Please note, most of the events took place before Covid lockdowns or activities where social distancing protocols in effect*
For my birthday, I got to see Eric Nam live in concert. I’ve been a fan for years and my friend I had a great time. He’s just as personable as he is on his podcast and had a variety of songs during his set.
My mom took me to a tea room for my birthday at the Purple Door Tea Room! The décor was so cute and the food was so tasty. I definitely want to visit again in the future.
I also went to my first K-Pop cup sleeve event for BTS. I’m a big fan and the event was so much fun. I got to meet a lot of cool people and even take home some BTS freebies.
I unhauled some books and donated them to Little Free Libraries such as this Darth Vader one which was so cool!
In the Fall, I visited one of many local cider mills in the area. It was such a warm Fall day and I got to drink a cider slushy and eat lots of donuts.
Taking a stroll in Downtown Detroit and enjoying the views of the Detroit Riverfront and it’s many parks.
Going to one of my favorite outdoor museums, Greenfield Village. It was so empty that day and the weather was perfect. I love historical museums.
Visiting the world largest Christmas store to pick up some ornaments. I’ve gotten ornaments from here since my childhood. I love Christmas and you could spend hours shopping in this store.
What are your reflections on 2020? Have you set any goals for 2021? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below!
Congrats on setting up your Etsy shop and I’m glad to see you have so many satisfied customers already!
I’ve been to Greenfield Village just once but I really liked it too. It’s funny to see that beautiful picture with the blog-add-on that’s making it snow across it. *giggles*
Also, I don’t know how I wasn’t following you on GR, but I am now. Phew! 🙂
Here’s hoping that your 2021 is filled with even more stresslessness!
Thank you so much! Greenfield Village is such a calming place. I love being able to walk outdoors and check out all of the different historical sites. I hope that you have a good year! Wishing you all the best in 2021!
I don’t usually set goals for the year, but I’m a booktuber and did the New Year’s Book Tag, so I did this year. Reading-wise I want to read 24 new books and do 5 re-reads (I’m trying to slow down this year because last year I was skimming books just to get through and not really understanding what I was reading). Books I want to read this year are Searching for Sycorax by Kinitra D. Brooks, Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, A Spectral Hue by Craig Laurance Gidndey, Rage of Dragons by Evan Winters, and White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi. Non-book goals were to submit an essay to 4 paid publications, be able to do 2 eye makeup looks without using a reference, and being less of a people pleaser.
Wishing the best of luck to your 2021 goals! I would like to try doing a re-read as will. I never seem to re-read books that much and I want to re-visit some old favorites. Good luck on your essay submissions, I would love to do more writing outside of the blog. I need to find my writing groove again.