Calli with Love

I’ve always struggled with New Year’s Resolutions. I believe it’s easy to get caught up in the trend of it all, rather than using the holiday as a time of real reflection.

I’ve tried “dry January” and subscribed to a gym membership, caught up in the whim of recreating myself, but I never considered who I was creating by choosing these widely adopted resolutions. I realize now that I was only following the status quo for the sake of fitting in. The “new year, new me” I was halfheartedly committing myself to was a creation of society, not by myself.

Last year, I decided I wouldn’t create a resolutions list, and simply allowed myself to do the things that would make me happy by 2025. I ended up quitting a job that consistently stressed me out to the point of mental exhaustion, spent the summer waking up at 7AM to tend to a flower garden, bought an expensive vlogging camera and started this blog. I didn’t hold myself to any promises, but gave myself the grace to find what it was that made me happy.

I spent a disgusting amount of time on Pinterest (not that I’m mad about it), collecting aesthetically pleasing images to base my life around. I’ve always been a visual learner. I need to see it to understand it. It’s been that way with school, work, and sports. Why wouldn’t I use the same process with life? The boards I create stand to represent the person I feel that I am and deserve to be.

Through this process, I discovered that there are four main areas of my life that I want to and can continue to improve: hobbies, physical health, mental wellness, and overall fulfillment of life.

I reflected on these when New Year’s hit and thought about how I could create a list that feeds those pieces of me, without overdoing it and creating unrealistic deadlines or expectations for myself. I don’t want to get to the end of 2025 with a list of things I didn’t accomplish and feel like a failure and I definitely don’t want to follow a list of empty societal goals that don’t cater to me as an individual. I want to establish meaningful habits and healthy routines for myself that build towards a refined version of who I already am.

And I believe that I am caring, creative, sometimes messy but mostly organized. I am quiet, but deeply passionate. I like gardens, art and antiques. I’m a hard worker. I can be a huge nerd, get excited by film scores, love going to the movie theater, and think Funko Pops are adorable. I love coffee in all its delicious forms. Plants inspire me. Travelling makes my soul sing. I have always seen myself as an artist, first and foremost. I want to give love to the world.

I am so many beautiful things and I don’t let them out. This year I vow to become more unapologetically me.

So, without further ado, I present:

My 2025 Bucket List

• Finish my journal. I recently started a journal for my thoughts and day-to-day life and I would like to finish it before the year is over. The entries can be about anything, but work towards capturing, processing, and appreciating life as it is in this moment.
• Paint at least two pictures. I have plenty of canvas and paint in my craft room, and painting was one of my favorite activities growing up. It’s time to fill my walls with love and creativity.
• Learn macrame from my roommate. This is something we have discussed since we met, and she does beautiful work. I love working with my hands and yearn to learn a new skill. It’s also a way to spend quality time with someone I won’t always live with.
• Host a wine & cheese night. I’ve made some new friends at my job and I brought up the idea of a wine & cheese night which excited some people. I’d love to actually put it together and host one. Hopefully this will open up a new world of hosting some fun nights with friends in the future.
• Cook at least two new recipes a month. The idea behind this is to get out of my comfort zone with my cooking. I want to follow recipes that will push my limits and discover what I can and can’t do. I’ve already crushed this, making 4 new recipes this past two weeks.
• Drink more water. This is a general goal I have for myself every year, but now that I’ve started working out, this is even more necessary.
• Travel to 1 new place. It’s always been a dream of mine to travel, but since I lack the money at the moment, I am pushing myself to get to at least one brand new place. It doesn’t have to be international.
• Read 3 books. I suck at reading, but I love writing, and entering new worlds and mindsets, so my goal is to pick up at least 3 books and finish them this year. The new Hunger Games book coming out will be one of them!
• Log 100 films on Letterboxd. Review 50 of them. I have an endless watchlist filled with classics and films I was supposed to watch for homework in college. This is the year I get back in the game and do what I love.
• Form a solid workout/yoga routine. I’ve been going to the gym with my boyfriend and roommate and following what they do, but ideally I would love to have a routine of my own. As for yoga, I want to make sure I use my new yoga mat at least once a day, either in the morning or at night to wind down.
• Spend more time at the park. There is a beautiful and large park near my house and I haven’t utilized it enough. My goal for this spring and summer is to get out of my house and take walks, go for picnics, do cartwheels, and spend my days in the grass.
• Make at least 6 YouTube videos. As a graduated film student, I have been lacking in my commitment to what I went to school for. Near the end of my degree, I became deeply interested in documentary work, but never did anything with it. Now, I have an $800 camera that sits on my nightstand and time to spare. My goal is to start documenting life.
• Spend time in Chicago. One of my best friends lives in Chicago, and it was originally the city I was going to start my adult journey in. I’d like to spend more time there and see what it was that was calling out to me.
• Visit my friends back home. It’s really depressing that I don’t see my friends enough. Here’s to making that change immediately!
• Visit family. Again, depressing, but I already have a trip planned.
• Write more letters. I bought stamps a few months ago, complained about how expensive they were, and then threw them in my desk where they still sit unused. I want to send letters to my friends and my siblings, filling them with stickers and postcards and all sorts of cute keepsakes.
• Get my splits back. I used to be a cheerleader and I had both side splits. It felt fantastic. I loved how flexible my body was and I’d like to be at that level just one more time in my life.
• Consume less junk food/fast food. I already do a pretty good job of this, but the idea is to start replacing or replicating those processed and unhealthy goodies that I love with baked or cooked goods of my own creation.
• Intentional purchases only. Save money. I have lost a lot of money in the past year and would like to gain back more of a financial cushion.
• Learn to drive. If I move back home, this will be necessary. If I move to Chicago… Ignore this.
• Less screentime. More hobbies!
• See a doctor for reproductive health. I’ve had significantly horrible period pain since I was about 18. It started happening out of nowhere that I would end up throwing up or almost passing out. I just want to make sure everything is okay down there.
• Start seeing a therapist. I’m a 25 year old with severe anxiety that’s just been stewing since I was a child. It’s time.
• Grow veggies and fruits. I don’t have a yard quite big enough for a full garden, but I am excited to grow some tomatoes, peppers, and possibly some strawberries this summer. Last year, we had a flower garden up front and I found a lot of peace from tending to it. It feels like the right time to try some fruits and veggies.
• Wake up earlier. This past summer, I was waking up around 7AM, watering the flowers and sitting down to write. It was so peaceful. I love waking up early, but I struggle with my sleep patterns a lot. My goal is to try and get better sleep so I can wake up earlier and feeling more refreshed every single day.

That’s about it. I love this list and how much it excites me for the year.

If you have any resolutions that excite you, let me know in the comments!