I cannot believe we are the end of the 2010s. And I can't believe I've been making one of these posts for SEVEN years now. Dang. I never post on this site anymore since I have a real website, but I like being able to post all my year end reviews on here. So. Here we are again.
In true Jenna fashion, 2019 turned into something spectacular. It was filled with unexpected joys and weird little detours, and at the end of this twelve months, I am incredibly grateful for everything that happened to me this year. I started in January with a lot of goals, and miraculously, a lot of them were accomplished.
I wanted to read 100 books.
I wanted to finish writing a first draft of a novel.
I wanted to learn how to cook (and enjoy the process).
I wanted to stop eating added sugar.
I did all of that. ALL OF IT. And, on top of that, I self-published a poetry book that sold OVER 1,000 COPIES.
When I told everyone my 2019 resolutions, pretty much everyone I talked to gave me a look and said "Wow you're ambitious." And because I'm a Taurus, I had to be stubborn and do it all. Even though it was stressful at times to do everything, and I still really want a donut, I'm doing great. Better than ever, actually.
I have realized a lot of things about myself in the past twelve months, and it's led to a lot of personal growth. I started seeing a counselor, and she's been really helping me recognize how I can improve my mental health, which was the biggest unexpected blessing of this year, I think. I'm learning how to step into the daylight and let it go (ha), and part of that is realizing that New Year is actually my favorite holiday. I know a lot of people hate this holiday, and they don't like being so introspective, but I like getting to reflect on the things I've done in any given year. I like accomplishing things and looking back to be grateful for everything I've been through. It gives me more purpose and more drive to try harder in the next year. And sometimes that doesn't last all year, sometimes I don't accomplish all my resolutions, but I think it works for me. It gives me a lot of momentum in the months where most people feel super depressed. (Granted, even though my most productive months are Jan/Feb, my most depressing months are June/July, but whatcha gonna do?)
All that being said, I think I need to calm down in 2020. People are going to ask me about resolutions, and while I've thought about some I could do, I think this new year is going to be slightly more relaxed for me. I have plans, things I know are going to happen, but I don't want to spend the entire year tallying off books or frantically trying to create internet content. In 2020, I want to finish editing this current fiction novel I'm writing. I would love to find an agent, but that's pretty far off right now. I also have plans to move, to start freelancing full time (YIKES), to get a tattoo, to see a bunch of shows, and lots of other fun things. I may be "relaxing" on my resolutions, but I am NOT slowing down yall. The 2020s are going to be wild, and I'm ready for it.
A list of important things from 2019:
formatted & self-published a poetry collection that hit #1 on amazon's bestseller list and sold over 1,000 copies, hit 9k instagram followers, hit 20k youtube subscribers, traveled europe - specifically london, berlin, helsinki, cambridge, and sheffield, had my first unofficial book signing/meetup in FINLAND, saw taylor swift in nashville at the butterfly mural, finally visited castle gwynn (aka the love story castle) and shot my first lgbtqia+ engagement shoot, saw so many broadway shows (hadestown, oklahoma!, the prom, octet, once on this island, mamma mia), saw a TON of concerts (marianas trench, ajr x2, tessa violet, muna, twenty one pilots, maggie rogers/kacey musgraves + harry styles, marina, the kooks, sara bareilles, bleachers, motion city soundtrack), got to shoot ajr from the photography pit in LA, interviewed ajr's photographer austin roa, went back to ny for bookexpo/bookcon, INTERVIEWED STEPHEN CHBOSKY AND HE SAID I WAS ONE OF THE BEST INTERVIEWERS HE'S EVER HAD, took a group photo of 70 people, photographed five weddings, started a patreon page, shot in the mountains with @heather_roams, read one book FIVE TIMES in six months (hello rwrb), started a chaotic family groupchat with some new friends, started seeing a counselor, read over 100 books, finished writing the first draft of a novel for the first time in a decade, attempted my TENTH nanowrimo, cut out added sugar for most of the year (europe was exempt), made more in freelance than i did at my day job, drove 10 hours one way to see ajr in concert, drove 4 hours one way (and back in the same night) to see twenty one pilots...and then became a clikkie, learned how to rap all of "the search" by nf (yes this gets it's own mention bc IT WAS HARD DAMMIT).
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