Another January is here again! Often, at this time of year, people say that the months have flown by and time has moved far too quickly, and whilst I might not agree entirely, I do have to admit those last few months seemed to come out of nowhere. Maybe you feel similarly or perhaps you can’t agree at all but that is the nature of time, after all, we experience it differently to those around us and no one has the exact same year as someone else so processing that time is an individual matter.
For me, there was a lot that went on this year, in both good and bad ways. There were some amazing highs and some incredibly difficult lows. I’m not sure I can say I’ve ever had a year as tumultuous as this one which, in some ways, is lucky because there will be people out there who have only ever experienced tumultuous times. It was still difficult though, in a lot of different ways and I think it’s fair to admit that there were some very rough months in 2024 for me. I won’t be someone who wallows in self-pity or talks only about the bad, but it’s important to acknowledge that not everything is smooth sailing and that there are some gargantuan waves out there that we all must navigate at one point or another.
It can be true, when you look back on something and what you’ve endured/overcome, you see how resilient you truly are, how much perseverance you have. Looking back on my 2024, it has taught me about the sorts of things I can get through. Difficulties are such a natural part of life and whilst they may seem dark and endless whilst you’re in them, once you emerge through them, you get to see how well you did and you should praise yourself for that. I like to think it sets you up for success in the future: if you can see what trials you’ve made it through, you can navigate the future better and know how to tackle future difficulties that might arise. New difficulties might appear that you think you don’t know how to handle, but so much of what we go through is transferable to other facets of life; the experiences you have might be brand new, but how you get through them doesn’t have to be.
Whilst there was plenty of negativity in my 2024, my positives were exceptionally positive. I think it’s natural that you add more weight to the negative side of things, it’s a common attribute that the bad looks bad and the good only looks okay. This should be something to work at, to make sure you give just as much weight to the bad as the good, but it’s not always the easiest thing to do (this is something I’ve had to work on pretty much my whole life and it’s something I think I will always have to work on. But hey, nobody’s perfect, right?).
I do think it’s important to give weight to the negativity because learning from negativity is how you grow, but you must give equal weight to the positivity. It could be so easy for me to brush the positive parts of this year under the rug and complain that 2024 was miserable from start to finish. But that wouldn’t be true. And I’d hope that isn’t true for anyone, that whilst there are years that are insanely difficult, there is always some good to be found in there somewhere.
What this ultimately comes to for me and this blog where I try to focus on writing and authorship is where do I sit in terms of the progress I’ve made this year on my projects? Does it sit in the positive side where I made more progress than I had even hoped for? Or is it more negative and I didn’t get done the kinds of things I’d hoped to get done?
Unfortunately, it’s the latter.
When it comes to 2024, I didn’t attain the progress I had envisioned. Due to the things I’ve had going on this year, the big events that took over 2024 now and again, I’ve had a lot less time and energy than I would like which meant dedicating time to my projects hasn’t always been the easiest. I’ve always felt it’s so important to work on things even when you’re not feeling 100%, but you do also have to listen to your body and sometimes that means prioritising time to relax over progress. It might not always be the most satisfying thing, but it’s vital because your work won’t be your best if you’re exhausted. It can be painful to see another week go by and your drafts sitting in a very similar position to the one they were in last week, but that’s the nature of the beast sometimes, progress can’t always be made, especially when there’s so much else you’ve got to dedicate your time to.
There are some things going on that I am really excited about and I cannot wait for the day where I get to share them. Whilst certain other projects haven’t moved as far as I would like, I’ve simply accepted that. You can spend all your time being miserable, begrudging yourself, being frustrated and downtrodden because you’re not moving at the pace you’d like, but ultimately that doesn’t help you. What helps is acknowledging the truth and moving forward. Hopefully, that will mean moving forward with your projects, but if it doesn’t, don’t let that upset you or destroy your motivation. Whilst I’m certainly hoping 2025 brings progress for my projects, I shan’t let myself be disheartened if things don’t go the way I’d envisioned. No matter what comes my way, I will simply persevere, and I hope other artists can move forward in the same way, that they can continue motivating themselves and are kind to themselves even when things go awry.
So, I acknowledge the good, the bad and the frustrating of 2024 and I’ll use them to set myself up for next year. I know now that some of my goals have to be pushed back a little further, but that’s not the worst thing in the world. Perseverance is a massive part of creativity and it can be difficult to muster it sometimes, but it’s your responsibility to muster it, even when you want nothing more than to pack it all in because you feel like you’ve stopped making progress entirely. But remember that that’s never true because, as long as you have something to aim for, then aiming for it alone is progress, even if it feels a little slow.
I wish you a fruitful, successful and kind 2025, and let’s do what we can to make it excellent.
Robyn x
R. A. Howard 