Fandom Snowflake Challenge #2
Jan. 3rd, 2022 07:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tjs_whatnot
Challenge #2
In your own space, set some goals for the coming year. They can be fannish or not, public or private.
Oh man! SO MANY! This year, just like the year before and the year before that (for eternity) it’s the year that I get MY SHIT TOGETHER! FINALLY!! Buuuuut, this year I mean it… sort of. I mean, I want to keep it light and somewhat sarcastic so that if the world falls apart and takes me with it, I come here next year and instead of feeling like a total and complete failure, I sort of shrug and say, “Well, I guess we saw that coming. Here’s for a better try this time (for eternity.)” *raises glass and toasts optimism and gloom in one cheer*
Non-Fannish Goals
Keeping this general because I’ve spent a lot of time and space contemplating them and now I’m just ready to get to it already.
Finish Hiking Challenge:Last year, I challenged myself to hike 50 trails in The Shenandoahs before the end of my 50th year. That ends at the end of March. Good news, I only have 10 more trails to hike. Bad news, I haven’t really gotten into the whole Hiking in Freezing and Miserable Weather yet (though I have enjoyed, more than I thought I would, hiking in the rain) and January-March is nothing but miserable weather--especially on the weekends for some reason. But I WILL get this done. For my reward, I will take my walking adventure overseas--to ITALY!! Wish me luck, not just for completing my goal, but that I’ll be able to travel overseas sometime in the near future.
Get Organized: Again, last year I set a goal to start Bullet Journaling, but then got overwhelmed by the amount of choices and all the ways you can personalize that and make it your own. And because I am the kind of person who likes to imagine that they are way more creative than they are--or have time to be--I got a blank book and just started doing it. This attempt served two purposes, 1) I really do need lists and written proof of what I need to do and have done. 2) I need more structure than I myself could provide for myself. So this year I got a Commit30 Planner that seems to have everything I need (including foo-foo mantras) without some of the bells and whistles that overwhelmed me in my earlier searches. I think it will also help me figure out just what I really do need in a journal.
Keep Being Awesome! This is mostly here to remind me that no matter what else I do or don’t do, that at my core, I am a good person, trying to do good things and to keep at it, no matter what. ♥ ♥
Fannish Goals:
Start Getting Involved in Writing Challenges Again: or give in to the reality that maybe my fannish involvement isn’t in the written word anymore--but I’m not willing to do that just yet. So, I’m giving myself ONE MORE year to produce words (seriously, this year was Yuletide and THAT’S it and that is unacceptable!
Keep Consuming New-to-Me Media: Easiest goal EVER! And the one that I feel I might have NAILED last year. Yes, last year, I did set the goal of reading specifically, but that didn’t go as planned. Sure, I read more books that I had the year before and I loved all the books I read--seriously guys, please read Jason Reynold’s Long Way Down! But, I still failed the goal. So, I’m cutting myself some slack and including reading into all other media, cause that I NAILED! And I’m sure they’ll be time to talk about all of that sweet, sweet New Fandom feels in later challenges.
Checking in More: Again, I think I have to find a new way to do this. I love Dreamwidth, I do. But by the time I come to say hello, posts are days and days old and people have already moved on. And by the time I have the energy or space to write anything for myself, it’s lost its sizzle. I hate doing fandom on FB--but I do it more than I have before--it’s weird. Tumblr is also weird for interactions and serves more as a fandom Pinterest for me. But, I did just start trying to sort Discord and if anyone wants to tell me about how that works for them, that would be lovely. I’m in a Veronica Mars Fic writer/reader one and it’s lovely with general chat with people from all over the world and different “rooms” for specific days’ themes and whatnot. It makes me feel super connected without being overwhelmed with conversations I can’t keep up with.
And, I think that’s it. W00t! Two down! So far, so good.
♥ ♥
*meep* I really hope I still know how cuts work. 😳
(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-03 01:35 pm (UTC)give in to the reality that maybe my fannish involvement isn’t in the written word anymore
Honestly? I think, once a writer, always a writer. Maybe not a writer right now, but that's okay. It has a habit of popping back up at the most unexpected times...
(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-06 02:58 am (UTC)And yeah, I'll always be a writer--it was the only thing I wanted to be since I was 10 and have done it every since with some levels of success, but I need to get tough love-y on myself and try and get back to what it was about writing I loved and why I'm not doing that anymore. So, threatening myself this way is the idea I came up with. I know I'm full of shit, but I'm going to try and pretend that I'm not. ;)
♥
(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-03 03:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-06 03:00 am (UTC)And yes, I'm loving the pre-printed one so far. ♥
(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-03 03:26 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-04 06:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-06 03:01 am (UTC)I know old comments still mostly get read and sometimes even replied to, but there was just something so magical about back when I had all the time in the world and were having like deep conversations in my and others comments. ♥ ♥
(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-06 07:05 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-03 03:27 pm (UTC)FWIW, I do comment on people's posts that are a couple of days over. I often don't get answers because as you say, they've moved on. But I feel like I've put the feedback out there.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-06 03:02 am (UTC)And yeah, I just got to get over myself and give up the idea of staying on top of everyone's goings-on.
♥
(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-03 04:19 pm (UTC)I can relate on the bullet journaling-journey. There's so much content online from people who do it pretty much for a living, and it's not realistic to expect everyone else to be able to put in the same amount of time, creativity, and talent. I'm still going for the blank book and trying to figure out what works for me, haha.
For fannish goals, the more I read other people's challenges, the more I want to join in on writing challenges too! I know it's a big part of being on platforms like dw, but I've always shied away from them after an unlucky experience, but I'd like to dip my toes back into it again this year. Hope you'll join some as well!
(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-06 03:08 am (UTC)It snowed this week! *sob* But yes, I have some easy hikes I can take and still count. ;)
Yeah, I didn't know what I wanted with a planner, so I went with blank, and it was pretty great, but it gave me ideas that I couldn't really do myself, so I thought I'd try a year of this and then maybe combine the two different approaches next year. ;)
And, I'm sorry you had a bad experience in writing challenges. That's no fun! I've had less that ideal things happen, but nothing to turn me completely away from them yet, maybe just being more select on what I expose myself maybe? I don't know, but I do want to commit to more this year. I only wrote one story last year. YIKES!
(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-03 06:42 pm (UTC)I started a bullet journal last year myself. I didn't realize there were choices that would make me feel overwhelmed! I just bought one of those lined school composition books, put the month and the top and days of the month per line and started using it. I really do like how it helps keep me organized.
And I will give Long Way Down a look. Thanks for the rec.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-06 03:10 am (UTC)Yeah, bullet journels really can be anything. One day I'll sort exactly what I want of mine, but until then--and to make my life easier while I look--I'm going with this one and I'm liking it so far.
Oh, please do! It is so great. ♥
(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-03 06:54 pm (UTC)Congrats on the hiking goal!! I have such a romantic view of hiking and would love to do some myself. Good luck with the weather. I hope it's kind to you!
I'm also hoping to engage more here in the coming year. I often felt the way you describe about being late to the party or having ideas for posts and then not actually posting them. But I'll echo what was said above, I don't think people mind comments on older posts! I know I don't!
(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-06 03:13 am (UTC)Hiking is sort of romantic and like spiritual and whatnot. I highly recommend. ♥
I also hope we are both successful at engaging more. ♥ My problem is that I usually wait too long and then feel I have to just give every little detail of what has happened since and it just gets overwhelming and really, who's going to read that shit? :D :D
(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-03 10:35 pm (UTC)Hiking in the rain (and in any generally miserable, but funamentally safe enough weather) is mostly a matter of clothes - I'm in west central Scotland and there's a more than 60% chance that the weather will be inclement at any time of the year, so that's been a lesson hard won! breathable waterproofs are an essential, a waterproof baseball cap (which can go under a larger/warmer hat if needs be) is an essential (I'm a glasses wearer so it's useful for being able to see but basically a dry face is always a happier face)) and layers, all the light layers. I also really value waterproof gloves, and have a neoprene pair that I can layer up or down with ski gloves and woolies as needed. Dry hands make a huge difference. Also a flask, back at the car, full of hot tea, but that might be a British thing.
Keep Being Awesome! I love this so much!
(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-06 06:38 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-03 11:35 pm (UTC)The thing about checking in with DW is that the beauty of this site for fandom when you have a busy life is that it is asynchronous. You don't have to reply immediately or lose the thread. Well, that's what I like about it anyway having failed to keep up with either Tumblr or Twitter.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-06 06:39 pm (UTC)You're right. I need to get over myself. ❤❤
(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-04 07:14 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-06 06:40 pm (UTC)❤❤
(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-04 02:06 pm (UTC)Keep Being Awesome! This is mostly here to remind me that no matter what else I do or don’t do, that at my core, I am a good person, trying to do good things and to keep at it, no matter what. ♥ ♥
I think this is an amazing goal!
(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-06 06:40 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-04 06:51 pm (UTC)I'm so-so about Discord; I very easily get overwhelmed and shy if there are a lot of people talking, but I've found two fannish groups with an ok amount of people (a lot of people in the group but only about 10-20 talk with any kind of regularity) that are also nice people. It helps to have a shared interest and also that there are a lot of adults, in fact one group is 18+ only and it feels a lot less frantic than some other groups I've seen.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-06 06:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-10 07:41 pm (UTC)Thoughts
Date: 2022-01-04 08:14 pm (UTC)You might like
>>Again, last year I set a goal to start Bullet Journaling, but then got overwhelmed by the amount of choices and all the ways you can personalize that and make it your own. <<
I have just a few pages, each specialized to track one thing. This works for me. I know I'd never keep up with a whole journal.
>> I love Dreamwidth, I do. But by the time I come to say hello, posts are days and days old and people have already moved on. <<
It's not rare for conversations to run for days on my blog, and I don't mind comments on older posts. I get comments on stuff I posted years ago because people reread things, not just poems and stories, but also the nonfiction anchor posts.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2022-01-06 06:44 pm (UTC)