So the moon is transitioning into its second full moon phase of 2023 tomorrow—moving into Leo, and that means before looking ahead to the Leo full moon and hopefully setting a set of reasonable goals—it’s time to look back at the goals I set for the Cancer full moon and see how I did with them.
What were the goals that I set for the Leo full moon? They included:
Continuing with my nightly meditations and oracle card drawings, and trying to work in at least one morning meditation sesssion
Draft a three-to-five year plan (with breakdowns-yearly/quarterly/monthly/biweekly/daily)
Finish at least one more non-fiction book
Start working through (or watch) at least part of another personal/professional development e-course
So how did I do with each of them?
In terms of meditation:
I’ve been fairly consistent with meditating at least a few minutes every night—and usually would finish listening to the meditation while doing an oracle card drawing.
I haven’t been that good at trying to do morning meditation sessions—something to work on this year—cause I need all the little moments of zen I can grab.
In terms of non-fiction reading this year:
I’ve finished ‘Creativity: A Short & Cheerful Guide’ by John Cleese, and am probably about halfway through ‘Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman’ by Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson.
It’s been one of those years so far (and we’re only on February 3rd) where I’m falling back on favorite series to read or playing mindless games on the kindle (somewhat bad habits for avoiding various tasks that I need to be doing).
In terms of personal/professional e-courses:
I did watch a couple of short courses on skillshare during the full moon period and they were:
The Art of Planning, Master Time Management, and Increase Productivity
Planning a life you love: Creating, organizing, and utilizing a agenda
I just need to actually start utilizing information from both short courses—and that ties in with the next goal:
Drafting a three-to-five year plan:
Well—right now my main goal is to get through each day without having a breakdown. I haven’t been nearly as productive as I need to be…I avoid being on the computer most of the day for the past week or so—enjoying the digital detox—but at the same time feeling a little ‘guilty’ that I wasn’t doing any work.
So—this goal wasn’t accomplished, and will be worked into future new/full moon goals. In addition—I really need to try to figure out where I would like to settle within a few years (I’m willing to do possibly one more big move)—cause, I’m getting tired of being in this particular state.
So there it is: sixty percent of the Leo full moon goals accomplished: nightly meditation & oracle card drawings; working through an e-course, and continuing to read a non-fiction book.
Fleshing out long-term goals has always fallen slightly short of being completed—mainly because I either throw everything down on to paper for every category of life—or I’m not realistic in the time frame for accomplishing said goal. Something to work on this year.
But progress is being made–especially when I can acknowledge where some of my time ‘wasters’ are….
Therefore I know that I need to remove the games from the phone and kindle..find a good time management app to download onto the computer (to help keep me off social media)–and also to be totally realistic in the timeframes that I initially come up with for the three-to-five year plan. Some goals may be accomplished quicker than others…and there may be some major setbacks as well…just have to remember to breath in and breath out.
So, we’re entered the full moon for December on the 7th, and I’m a couple days late in posting…This means that there are now only twenty-two days left in 2022. I have no idea how I feel about that fact, nor do I have any idea how I feel about 2023…other than hoping it goes (or at least ends) a little better than this year is going to be ending.
As I’ve been reflecting back on the past several years—there may be a ‘economic gap’ on my resume—it isn’t a ‘experience gap’—I have added in the science/medical/health content creation, blogger, and writer to my resume (and acknowledged the creative blog as well).
Before I get carried away in the direction of reflections and what I may or may not have accomplished this year (that will be the topic for at least one or two posts at the beginning of the year)—back to the topic at hand: December’s full moon.
Wednesday, the moon moved through the Gemini constellation, and there are questions that one can contemplate during the days surrounding that transition. If one looks at “Moonology: working with the magic of lunar cycles” by Yasmin Boland, those five questions are:
Have I been gossipy, superficial, or flighty this month?
Have I been glossing over other people’s feelings?
Have I been too quick to change my mind, or too restless?
Have I been too much of a silver-tongued hustler?
Have I done enough reading to keep expanding my mind?
If I were to number the above questions one-to-five, my answers would be as follows:
Well, I’m still self-isolating for the most part—so I don’t think I’ve been gossipy or superficial this month. Flighty…yeah, I’ve been a little flighty this month, but considering the ongoing family medical drama (that is still ongoing and acting like a roller coaster)…not surprising that I’m a little flighty.
I don’t think I’ve been glossing over people’s feelings either this month.
This depends on what we’re talking about—I haven’t changed my mind in terms of pivoting into remote/online/contract writing and/or data analysis position and trying to start my own freelance company. Being restless—maybe a little, but hey—dealing with a family medical issue (which has entered month four), the damn SARS-CoV2 virus is here to stay, and I’m not sure which way is up anymore.
Nope.
Working on this—I’ve realized this year that I go through cycles when it comes to reading non-fiction. I have enough non-fiction books that I really shouldn’t buy any new ones next year—or at least make sure that I’ve read at least three books for every book I think of buying.
So I’m also going to see what house the moon will be transition through during this time. Using my rising sign (which is Scorpio), the Gemini constellation is moving through my eighth house—the focus of this house on “death and rebirth, reinvention and transformation”.
Thanks to the SARS-CoV2 virus, I’ve spent majority of the past three years doing serious self-reflection and personal/professional development. I’ve decided the direction I want to head in for my career transition—remote science/medical/health communications, with the long-term goal of having a successful freelance business within both that realm and creative/hobby side as well. Therefore, I have allowed the ‘bench lab scientist’ to ‘die’ and I’m going to be reinventing myself in 2023 as a successful science/medical/health communicator.
So this is the time to try to find balance between slowing down, rushing to learn things, being real with people, money, and determining one’s self worth.
Therefore my small goal list for the last few weeks of 2022 (and the first few weeks of 2023), will include:
Setting up my master 2023 habit-tracking journal. I had fairly good success with the 2022 master habit-tracking journal (just had to remember to take time towards the end of each month to finish setting up the next month—especially towards the end of the year)
Continue reading one of the many non-fiction books that I’d started during the last half of 2022
Finish getting the second website/blog up and running, as it will be one of the major parts of my online portfolio for science/medical/health communications
Get the ‘writing/working’ station setup in the bedroom…aka rearrange the room
Figure out an schedule/calendar for various sites (LinkedIn, the creative blog/website, and the science/medical/health website), plus figure out the other social media sites that I want to use to promote both blogs
But above all, remind myself—that I’m making progress and that is what I should be striving for: progress over perfection, the ‘okay’ draft over the ‘polished/perfect’ never published draft.
Here is to the last full moon of 2022, and sending out happy thoughts and vibes to everyone, and fingers crossed that going into 2023 and beyond—things calm down, and we all figure out what our individual (and global) new ‘normal’ looks like.
So, we’re in December…that means there are only 31 days, roughly four and half weeks, or 744 hours left in 2022. That means, I now really need to get serious about planning out things for 2023…because it will be here before we know it (or are possibly willing to accept it).
I’m still feeling massively tired and burnt out on life, and while I would love for the year (and decade) to be over—I’m also not ready for the good-byes that will go along with them.
I’d hoped that November would be a little mellower than the past three months—and it was, and at the same time it wasn’t; if possible it was an even tie for September in terms of being a mess.
Still dealing with the ongoing family medical issue—and the outcome is still up in the air. Then there is the fun of elderly animals…probably having to put one cat and dog down within the next few months (cat due to health issues, that I currently can’t afford to treat; and the dog due to old age and pain).
The only cool thing I can say about the news is Mauna Loa erupting this week. It’s been well over a decade since I’ve been to the big island of Hawai’i—and when I went, I only visited Kilauea (since it was within the main part of the Volcano National Park).
While I wouldn’t want to be living on a island with an active volcano—I think it’d be cool to see it erupt (from a safe distance)—cause while I did see Kilauea erupt—it wasn’t as cool looking as pictures have been lately for Mauna Loa or even when Kilauea erupted a few years ago.
Still staying off the news for the most part—mainly because of my current mental health state. Though if everyone would just grab a snickers bar and take like a three-month timeout, I think that would help things settle down.
By this time next year, I won’t be surprised if I’m diagnosed with moderate cases of depression, anxiety, and PTSD.
Elections were earlier this month, and hopefully Democrats can hold their slim majority in the senate, and knock heads together in the house to get things done. Sorry if that seems ‘violent’—I’m tired of seeing mass shootings in the news, and basic human rights being attacked basically every damn day.
In terms of the total number of cases of the virus within the US, when I published ‘October in Review’ on November 1st, I noted that we had reached a little over 99.3 million cases and now as of December 1st —we have reached just a little over 100.6 million cases (an increase of a little over 1.3 million cases). So, numbers are staying ‘steady’—though I’d like to see the number actually start going down again. But there are the various omicron subs-strains running amok.
So—please, wear a mask, wash your hands, practice social distancing, and get boosted when needed.
I finally got around to getting my booster shot this past month—and other than a sore arm (for about four days), I didn’t have any other side effect of getting the booster. Flu shot is on semi-hold, only because it looks like I potentially have to schedule a doctor’s appointment to get it—and I don’t want to do that right now.
Still trying to keep the mental health on an even keel—therefore, I’m still trying to lean more into my strengths and values: knowledge, creativity, curiosity, spirituality, evolution/transformation (values), learner, intellection, input, achiever, and deliberative (strengths).
So before setting goals for December, its time to look back at the goals I set for November and see how I did with each of them. The goals for November included:
120-150K steps
At least one partial walk at Boomer Lake, and at least five-to-ten minutes of intentional movement each day
Finishing at least one of the many non-fiction books that I’ve started
Read at least two-to-four fiction books
Commit to the no spend days/no spend week/limited spending challenge (aiming for at least 22 days)
Work through at least part of one personal/professional development e-course
Getting the second blog up and running
Writing, writing, and writing
So how did I do with each of them?
120-150K steps:
I fell short of my minimum step goal of 120,000 steps. I managed to get 116,503 steps this past month. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts throughout the years—I’m an extremely fair weather person, so in order to be outside doing some type of workout I need it to be ‘just right’. We’re heading into winter, though with climate change, the temperatures have been doing a yoyo the past few weeks.
At least one partial walk at Boomer Lake, and at least five-to-ten minutes of intentional movement each day:
There was no walk at Boomer Lake during November. The reason—having to play ‘phone tag’ with medical staff in regards to the on-going family medical issue. I probably could have done a brief walk up there—but I did other chores instead.
I know I’ve probably moved around at least five minutes a day—but I have yet to write down what the intentional movements have been. (Need to get better at this)
Finish at least one non-fiction book:
I finally managed to finish reading INNERCISE: The New Science to Unlock Your Brain’s Hidden Power by John Assaraf. I just need to go back and do some of the exercises within the book (especially those that revolve around setting goals, and putting together routines).
Read at least two-to-four fiction books:
There were six new fiction books read during November, and six re-reads:
The new books:
Someone to Hold (Wild Widows #2) by Marie Force
Always Mine (Honey Mountain #1) by Laura Pavlov
Ever Mine (Honey Mountain #2) by Laura Pavlov
Make You Mine (Honey Mountain #3) by Laura Pavlov
Simply Mine (Honey Mountain #4) by Laura Pavlov
The Path to You (Wilder Brothers #3) by Carrie Ann Ryan
The re-reads included:
Alpha Turned by K.B. Alan
Protect & Defend by Francesca Hawley
Hot & Badgered (Honey Badger Chronicles #1) by Shelly Laurenston
In a Badgered Way (Honey Badger Chronicles #2) by Shelly Laurenston
Badger to the Bone (Honey Badger Chronicles #3) by Shelly Laurenston
Breaking Badger (Honey Badger Chronicles #4) by Shelly Laurenston
No spend challenges:
Well, I did okay with the no spend challenge—managed 17 days (so a little over half the month)…spending money unfortunately is my coping mechanism for stressful situations (and the past several months has been a roller coaster of stress)…but I’m going to work on improving this both in December and then in 2023.
Time outdoors is again becoming limited to basically evenings (and when I need to fill bird feeders) due to it being winter.
Meditation and sitting quietly at night (or actually anytime during the day) is something I’ve been fairly good at doing.
I’ve also been on top of doing daily oracle card drawings (I think there may have been one day I didn’t—but I’d done a double the day before), and doing daily gratitude journal entries.
Craft time:
I finished the one abstract science cross-stitch project, and had decided to use buttons to tie off the fabric in the back.
Latest abstract cross-stitch project
I’m currently working on a second abstract cross-stitch project and should be done with that one hopefully before the end of the year.
Working through part of a personal/professional e-course:
I’ve started watching the e-course: Master Business Writing & Editing on Udemy. I’ve watched the first three videos (so about 15 minutes of the three hour course). It looks to be a good course—so, aiming to finish this plus the 15 errors in scientific writing & how to fix them (an two hour course) during December.
Getting the second blog/website up and running:
One of the bigger goals for December
Writing, writing, and writing:
While I’ve gotten quite a bit of writing done during November (kept up with the three ‘series’ that I do on LinkedIn each week; plus the various posts on the creative blog), there is room for improvement.
I know that I need to get the second blog up and running—plus I need to decide on the various social media platforms for each blog, and get a tentative content calendar planned and actually stick with it…goal for December and 2023.
So, other than not getting any work done on the new blog/website—I managed a little on all other goals (while totally meeting at least the reading goals). As I’d mentioned in my #thoughtfulthursday post on LinkedIn today—I’ve been allowing myself to fall into the pits of ‘fear of failure’ and ‘fear of opinions of others’ this year—which has sidetracked, and sidelined my progress on numerous fronts.
Taking today out of the equation—there are thirty days left in the month. I know that I probably won’t be super productive this month (holidays and the on-going family medical drama), but I need to start setting things up so that I can hit the ground running in the New Year.
That means measuring things in the bedroom and rearranging furniture—to hopefully create an ‘office’ space that I actually feel comfortable working in, in addition to creating a portable working space in the living/dining room area (elderly dog likes to be in the same room—and has trouble navigating areas that lack area rugs).
It means getting in the different bullet journals and getting the tracking sheets set up for at least the first several months (besides the ones I did for 2022, introduce some new ones for 2023).
It will mean actually taking the time each day (morning and night) to plan and then reflect on how I did each day. It will also mean creating content calendars and trying to stick with them.
I’ll be spending some time during the next month or so deciding on what other social media channels I want to be active on for each blog…some might overlap (Instagram, Medium, and possibly having a Facebook page for each of them), but others will be specific for one or the other.
Therefore, I’ll still be working on improving my time and project management skills as well throughout the month of December.
The goals then for December will include:
120-155K steps
Partial walk at Boomer Lake, and intentional movements daily
Work through at least one module of a personal/professional development course
Writing, writing, and writing
Set up the ‘master’ goal list for 2023; and start the ‘master’ blueprint plan for 2023-2028
The December goals are basically the same as what I’ve set for September, October, and November—with the addition of setting up the ‘master’ goals or plan for 2023 to 2028. What I need to do in terms of that ‘goal’ is start with the five year goals, and work my way backwards. That way hopefully each year I’ll be working towards those ‘larger’ and loftier goals.
As I mentioned the only goal that I didn’t really touch was getting the second blog/website up and running. I have an idea of what I want to write for my about me page (helps that I got my functional resume finished), and hopefully will have at least one blog post in addition to various pages ‘live’ by New Years Eve.
All I can try to do is devise a schedule/plan that will hopefully be able to bear the brunt of whatever happens during 2023…that will be a large focus this coming month.
Becoming more consistent will really let me lean into my strengths and values: learning/knowledge, creativity, curiosity, spirituality, evolution/growth, and intellection.
In addition—they all give me great practice at time and project management as I’m aiming for at least 85% overall completion (I’m fully acknowledging that I may not hit the step goal, and that I may also not have that much time outside—but I can work towards all the other ones).
Time/project management goes hand in hand with consistency and productivity. I’m going to be making more use of airtable (for content/project management—it’s a calendar and spreadsheet in one space), an old fashion timer, and pen/paper to manage my time and projects.
Curious to know what is your favorite time, project, or productivity tracker/manager?
So, we’re in November…that means there are only two months, 61 days, roughly nine weeks, or 1,464 hours left in 2022. It’s the final sixth of 2022, and I’m trying to figure out what and how much stuff I can get accomplished before both the end of November and the end of 2022.
As I mentioned last month—I’m tired, burnt out (more on life overall than career), and really ready for this year, and the decade to basically be over.
October was even a bigger mess than September—which is saying something. So how was it a bigger mess than September?
Well—the ongoing family medical issue that I mentioned having started in my August in Review (and touched upon in my September in Review)—it’s still ongoing, and there was a point where it wasn’t looking very good. Currently we’re back to the fifty-fifty chance of it going either way.
I’m also trying to stay off the news (I know that this is showing my privilege—but with my current mental health state—I need to stay off of it). But I will just say—Russia should be kicked off the UN Security Council and kicked out of the UN in general.
By the time the family medical issue is resolved, I won’t be surprised if in addition to the moderate cases of depression and anxiety, I don’t also have a moderate case of PTSD as well.
Elections are coming up next week for the US—and this is where I’m going to share my two-cents.
Basic human rights are on the ballot this year. Women’s rights (voting and health care), sensible gun laws, the environment, education—all of it are on the line. For whatever reason there is a major dichotomy between the two major political parties within the US—and I don’t mind debating how each view finances, the budget, and those topics—but I won’t debate my stance on women’s rights, education, gun control, the environment, or issues I consider to be general ‘moral’/’common sense’ issues.
Therefore, if we elect more common sense and/or liberal individuals to Congress—we can end the filibuster, expand the Supreme Court, enact term limits for both the Supreme Court and Congress, and finally codify women’s health care and gun control into law.
And I’ll end my political/social/economical ‘rant’ here, before it takes over the post.
In terms of the total number of cases of the virus within the US, when I published ‘September in Review’ on October 1st, I noted that we had reached a little over 98.2 million cases and now as of November 1st —we have reached just a little over 99.3 million cases (an increase of a little over 1.1 million cases). So, numbers are staying ‘steady’—though I’d like to see the number actually start going down again. But there are the various omicron subs-strains running amok.
So—please, wear a mask, wash your hands, practice social distancing, and get boosted when needed.
I thought I’d manage to get my booster shot in October—but with the way the beginning of the month went…this task fell by the wayside. Hopefully I can get around to scheduling it for sometime in November (and possibly the flu shot—if its free as well).
While trying to keep the mental health on an even keel—I’m still trying to lean more into my strengths and values: knowledge, creativity, curiosity, spirituality, evolution/transformation (values), learner, intellection, input, achiever, and deliberative (strengths). Though sometimes it doesn’t help having the background/understanding of medical issues…ignorance is bliss at times.
So before setting goals for November, its time to look back at the goals I set for October and see how I did with each of them. The goals for October included:
125-155K steps
At least one partial walk at Boomer Lake, and at least five to ten minutes of intentional movement a day
Finish at least one non-fiction book
Read at least two-to-four fiction books
Commit to the no spend days/no spend weeks/limited spending challenge
Time outdoors, meditation/sitting quietly, daily gratitude journal entries, and daily oracle drawings
Craft time
Getting the second blog/website up and running
Working through at least one module of a personal/professional development course
Writing, writing, and writing
So how did I do with each goal?
125-155K steps:
I managed to get 134,240 steps in during the month of October—basically right in the middle between hitting a little over 4K steps a day and the ‘goal’ of 5K steps a day. I managed two walks at Boomer—a partial and a full, plus took Chaos through the neighborhood once. Hopefully I will be able to get Chaos out on more walks in November, plus have an late morning/early afternoon walk at Boomer Lake at least once or twice in November.
At least one partial walk at Boomer Lake, and at least five to ten minutes of intentional movement a day:
I managed to get in one partial walk and one full walk at Boomer Lake, plus a walk through the neighborhood with Chaos. I probably managed about five minutes or so each day of ‘intentional’ movement (which for me means helping our elderly, arthritic dog in and out of the house).
Finish at least one non-fiction book:
I’m still reading Trilobite: Eyewitness to evolution; and I’m about thirty percent of the way through the book. I’m almost finished with INNERCISE; and I’m about eighty percent of the way done with that book–so I should possibly finish it sometime in November.
I’ve realized that I have cycles when it comes to reading non-fiction books—I can read several in a month (or over a period of say two months), then I go for a month (or longer) where I only end up reading a little bit of different non-fiction books (as none really grab my full attention).
Read at least two-to-four fiction books:
I’m pretty certain that I read more than four books during October (but didn’t track how many were re-reads). But teh four fiction books that I know I read during October were:
Give Me Love (Rose Canyon #2) by Corinne Michaels
Bittersweet Promises (Montgomery Legacy #1) by Carrie Ann Ryan (book review was posted last week)
Fractured Sky (Tattered & Torn #5) by Catherine Cowles
My Favorite Mistake (Paradise Bay Billionaire Brothers #4) by Claudia Buroga
In addition, I also finally got around to writing and posting the book review for Always the One for Me (Wilder Brothers #2) by Carrie Ann Ryan.
Commit to the no spend days/no spend weeks/limited spending challenge
My goal for October was a minimum of 22 days but aiming for 29.
Well, I managed seventeen days (just a little over half the month) without buying any extra e-books, or other stuff. But since how bad the beginning of the month was (in terms of the family medical issue)–managing seventeen days isn’t too shabby.
Time outdoors, meditation/sitting quietly, daily gratitude journal entries, and daily oracle card drawings:
There was time outdoors—possibly not as much as I would have liked—but we’re heading into the cooler months, and unless the sun is directly overhead, it can get chilly sitting outside (even in a sweatshirt).
I’ve been making use of the soothing pod mediation app at night—and managing to sit and focus on the mediation for at least five minutes (some of the meditations are upwards of ten to fifteen minutes).
I’ve been on track doing my daily gratitude journal entries, and doing daily oracle card drawings. For October I was using the Oracle of the Shapeshifters deck:
Thursdays–I share the oracle spread on LinkedIn as part of my Thoughtful Thursday series
Craft time:
In addition to creating graphics and other multimedia items on Canva—I’ve also been spending quite a bit of time working on a new cross-stitch project (that I’ll hopefully have completed sometime during the month of November).
My current cross-stitch project: An abstract ‘microbiology’ petri dish showing different bacterial, fungal, and viral growth.
Getting the second blog up and running:
Still working on this….
Working through at least one module of a personal/professional development course:
I watched three short courses on Skillshare during October, and they were:
3x your productivity with this weekly planning guide
I liked the course–though I didn’t print off the planning guide. Basically you’re given ten tips on how to improve your week (and those tips could also be applied to one’s monthly or even yearly calendars).
The tips that the instructor gave were:
Visualize your goals
Schedule self-care
Celebrate and appreciate small and big wins
Just say No (to things you don’t want to be doing)
Major lessons and inspirations (from the previous week/month)
Failure is feedback
Who can I help? Who would I benefit from?
Feed your soul
Focus (top three priorities for the week)
Daily goals and review (break the three top priorities down into actionable steps for each day)
Needless to say—I’m still working on incorporating some of these tips into my schedule/life.
Content Calendar Made Easy: Save Time and Develop a Personal Brand
This was a decent course—it talked about taking your top traits (but traits in terms of what works best for content development) and mixing them with different types of content prompts (such as FAQs, behind the scene, future plans, and so forth).
I know my strengths/values—but am still working on how to meld those into my brand, but also realize I should be thinking of traits as well (would be having to brainstorm with others on this one).
Blogging Rituals and Routines: 10 secrets for increasing blogging productivity
This was a good course, and similar to the other productivity course gave ten different tips on how to improve one’s productivity.
The ten tips this instructor gave were:
Clean up your office/desk space
Organize drawers and files
Clean up your computer files
Remove things that don’t belong in the office (ties in with #1)
Write at the same time everyday
Have a daily, weekly, or monthly word count goal
Have a daily time goal for writing (say fifteen minutes each day)
Go on a ‘blogging retreat’
Go on a weekly solo artist date
Put on your ‘writing’ clothes each day
In addition, there were the suggestions of going for a morning walk, and changing your scenery (going somewhere other than your home ‘office’) to help improve your productivity.
There are several things that I need to do to help improve my productivity—and the big one is to create a couple of functional (but fun) work spaces in the house. One in my bedroom (which will be the biggest challenge), and then another in either the living room or dining room (since I split the time I spend working in different areas of the house).
Writing, writing, and writing:
I managed to get quite a bit of writing done overall during the month of October. I think I managed to do all three of my weekly post series on LinkedIn (Science Tuesday, Thoughtful Thursday, and the Oncology Friday), plus several posts for the creative/reflective blog.
I still need to work on drafting more blog posts (especially for the medical/science/health blog) in addition to starting to build out a portfolio of different communication style projects (mini-reviews; clinical trial summaries, slide decks, posters, and infographics).
What other lessons did I learn in October?
Trust your gut. I almost landed a freelance client for a writing project—but the payment method that they wanted to use was extremely phishy—so I politely declined (after having drafted an contract), and two days later—they’d blocked me on LinkedIn and the conversation thread disappeared as well (I wonder if I try to send another email if it would go through???).
Slowly dip your toe outside your comfort zone—but be completely honest and transparent with the other party.
A recruiter reached out to me on LinkedIn about a potential remote writing position focusing on oncology—great, I’m dipping my toes into the field, but was honest that I didn’t have the post-doc or publication experience that their client wanted. The recruiter thanked me, and basically then terminated the conversation (in all it was less than a five minute phone call).
In addition last week, I reached out to someone who was looking for a freelance science/medical writer—and while they aren’t sure if they’re going to be taking on that particular project—they gave me the idea/suggestion of possibly doing consulting work for training/on-boarding science/medical writers.
So, while I may not have made progress with all the goals (still need to carve out time to focus on the other blog/website)—overall progress was made during the month of October. There should always be room for improvement (if nothing else—extending the ‘goal’ line [in terms of steps for fitness, or words/time for writing).
So looking further into November, what are my goals going to be? Well, they’re going to include:
120-150K steps
Hopefully at least one partial walk at Boomer Lake and at least five to ten minutes of intentional movement each day
Finish at least one of the many non-fiction books I’ve started
Read at least two-to-four fiction books
Commit to the no-spend days/no spend weeks/limited spending month challenge (aiming for at leat 22 days; goal is 27)
Time outdoors, meditation/sitting quietly, daily oracle card drawings, and daily gratitude journal entries
Craft time (finish the one cross-stitch project, start a new one, and/or possibly create some jewelry)
Working through at least part of one personal/professional development e-course
Getting the second blog/website up and running
Writing, writing, and writing
So the goals for November are basically identical to the goals for October; and technically are identical to the goals for September.
The only goal in October that I really ‘fell’ down on was getting the second blog/website up and running. It is technically ‘live’—I just need to write the copy for the various pages, get the blog up and going, and start developing the portfolio.
In terms of how I’m hoping November will go—I’m going to be pessimistically optimistic, and just try to take things a day/week at a time. This means that I might have to scrap the weekly to-do list if something goes south—or I might get more accomplished, because I’ll be hyper-focused on something other than the family medical issue.
I’m still going to be aiming to become more consistent—especially in terms of posting to the different blogs (I have a editorial/content calendar created [more or less] for LinkedIn, and semi-created for this blog—just need to work on one for the other blog).
Becoming more consistent will really let me lean into my strengths and values: learning/knowledge, creativity, curiosity, spirituality, evolution/growth, and intellection.
In addition—they all give me great practice at time and project management as I’m aiming for at least 85% overall completion (I’m fully acknowledging that I may not hit the step goal, and that I may also not have that much time outside—but I can work towards all the other ones).
Time/project management goes hand in hand with consistency and productivity. I’m going to be making more use of airtable (for content/project management—it’s a calendar and spreadsheet in one space), an old fashion timer, and pen/paper to manage my time and projects.
Curious to know what is your favorite time, project, or productivity tracker/manager?
So the moon will be entering its latest full moon stage this weekend…and can also be referred to as the Hunters Moon—as it’s the full moon closest to the fall equinox (Sept 22). Since it should be transitioning through the Pisces constellation this weekend—it means that we’re a third of the way through September…
So if I looked to the book “Moonology: working with the magic of lunar cycles” by Yasmin Boland, I’d see that there are five questions that one can ask themselves during this time:
Have I been dreamy to the point of not getting enough done and making silly errors?
Have I been overly sensitive and too easily hurt?
Have I been acting like a martyr? Or too easily led?
Have I been meditating every day, and if not, why not?
Have I been in touch with my intuitive side? Following my dreams and hunches?
So if I were to number the above questions 1-5, I think that my answers would be as follow:
I would have to say that I haven’t been too dreamy lately…too distracted, upset, semi-depressed, and totally irritated with the world? Yes, I have allowed myself to be ‘distracted’ from things and not get enough done (especially since I have a huge to-be accomplished list that I need to write out and start tackling).
The past month has been difficult, so I may be a little more sensitive than usual (and I do admit to losing my temper), and am trying to find a nice balance in dealing with certain people.
Nope
With the use of the app soothing pod, I’ve been able to meditate for anywhere from two minutes to over ten, every night for the past two months.
As I mentioned last year—I’m trying to get better at this—I’m good at being in touch with my ‘analytical’ side, but had spent years ‘ignoring’ my intuitive side. I’m trying to get better at tuning in to my intuitive side/gut. I am slowly trying to follow my dream of having a more ‘independent’ career away from the bench. I’m leaning more and more in the direction of freelance/remote/contract writing (science/medical/health) with the possibility of data analysis or project management style career. I’ve decided this route—because I want something that can be location independent, and also allow me some time independence and project independence as well.
So in addition to the self-reflection questions, one should also check to see what house or zone the moon is moving through as well. For me, the Pisces full moon is moving through my 5th house (according to my rising sign), which is also known as the “kids, romance, and creativity zone”.
I’m still semi self-isolating—I am now starting to occasionally meeting a friend for lunch, trying to get a walk in at Boomer, and visiting a family member in the hospital. I do plan on getting my booster shot hopefully within the next couple of weeks (the new Pfizer one has just been approved).
I’ve realized that when (and if) I move—it will have to be to an area where renting a small one (possibly two) bedroom house won’t be super expensive—the reason, my dog. Chaos is not an apartment dog, nor will he ever become one…I will need a place that has a decent backyard for him to run around in.
Only ‘kids’ I’m currently around are the furry variety (two dogs and three cats), as my niece is out in CA (though they may come for a visit next month), and if I meet up with one friend for lunch—we can do it during the week, so her daughter is in school.
I need to try to start scheduling more time for crafts (cross-stitching, jewelry design/creation, and even photography), as I really haven’t been doing as much as I was either earlier in the year or this time last year.
The comfort zone when it comes to crafts has included photography, knitting, reading, quilting/sewing (when I have a working sewing machine), and now cross-stitching. Hopefully over the next few months I can also add jewelry design/creation and maybe even mosaic design/creation to the list as well.
So what are my goals going to be for the Pisces Full Moon?
Work on developing a ‘workable’ schedule for the day/week/month. I know that part of my problem is that I’m consistent in being inconsistent. If I really want to make freelance work—I need to improve my time/project management skills.
Make sure that I’m making time for crafts/hobbies and not just falling back into the ‘bad routine’ of work, work, and more work.
Continue working on both blogs (coming up with editorial calendars, getting the copy written for various pages on both, and making sure that I have at least four to five blog posts written for the science/medical/health communications blog).
Work through at least part of one personal/professional e-course.
Four goals, and while only one (the last) will actually have a ‘yes/no’ in terms of completion—the rest can also be considered on-going/continuous goals—but if one doesn’t start them…one can in theory never continue them…
Bits and pieces from previous chapters of our lives usually find their way into our current chapters that we’re trying to write…the bits and pieces from my previous chapters unfortunately right now include: imposter syndrome, inner critic, negative self-talk, and feelings of inadequacy.
I know that I can work through all of those feelings, and will be doing so—but also just acknowledging them is a huge step in the right direction of self-care/self-acceptance, and healing.
Therefore, I’m also going to keep the following quote at the forefront: ‘progress over perfection’, and knowing that I’m slowly starting the next chapter of my life (as I’m done re-reading the last one), in addition to limiting the influence of others in terms of what I decide to do with my future.
Question time: what are some of your favorite crafts?
So, we’re going to be heading into another ‘new moon’ phase this weekend (and I’m probably going to be a day late in posting).
We’re entering Virgo season…I should be counting down the days until my birthday—but I’m not (and that’s another story for another day)…
So what are some of the things that one can do during the Virgo new moon?
Take an inventory of your life. Figure out what is working and what isn’t and then figure out what needs to change for the things that aren’t working.
Be of service—help out more at work (if able), do the little things that can help make someone else’s day a little more bearable.
Be healthy—see what is and isn’t working in your health and fitness routines and then figure out what to fix—what new habits to start working on.
Avoid nitpicking—this is where the motto “progress over perfection” really comes into play
Get organized—pay bills, figure out the monthly schedule (workout, eating, so forth)—things that can make life a little more bearable going forward
While most would think that the new moon would be moving through my first house (since my star sign is Virgo), it actually moving through my 11th house (or friends’ zone), since I’ve been going with my rising sign (which is Scorpio).
Looking back at what I wrote over the past two years—my ‘new normal’ is still social distancing (with a some exceptions), wearing a mask, and really just being considerate of others…
Some of the things one can do in regards to their 11th house include:
Sign up for an evening class in something you’ve always wanted to do
Ask your friends to introduce to friends of theirs you’ve never met
Wish on a star every night for a month
Introduce a childhood pal to a friend from your life now
Say ‘Hi’ to someone you see nearly every day but never talk to
Thank your best friend for being there for you
Well, besides the fact that we’re still in the middle of a pandemic/epidemic—I’m not getting out that much still. Therefore, there are still several things that I probably won’t be doing in regards to my 11th house.
I’d say that there are probably only two things that I could do in regards to my 11th house: wish on a star every night for a month, or thank my best friend for being around still. I am starting to do more virtual ‘coffee/water’ chats as well.
I had lunch with a college classmate a few weeks ago, and may try to get together again sometime in September (but it depends on a whole slew of other things).
So, since I’m still in semi self-isolation, my goals for the Virgo New Moon period will include:
Take inventory of various aspects of life (research/writing/editing, crafts/hobbies, fitness, and mental health/spirituality) and try to develop a working schedule that will allow me be both productive, but at the same time enjoying time outside as well.
Continue with daily workouts (alternate between weight lifting and shadow-boxing).
In combination with #1—organize the schedule, and block out periods of time (or set certain days to certain tasks) and see if that helps improve my productivity
Work on the outlines/drafts for the following items:
My LinkedIn oncology post series
The follow-up(s) to my LinkedIn molecular cloning series: Introduction to biofuels, Introduction to Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), and Introduction to vaccine development
Digestion, absorption of nutrients, and the nucleic acid biosynthesis pathways
Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Cells: Similarities and Differences
Antibiotics and the rise of Antibiotic Resistant Microbes
Continue with the evening meditations
Since the next few months are going to be extremely crazy (and that’s putting things nicely)…my motto is going to be ‘progress over perfection’…which means I need to spend a little time each week working on my other blog, doing research and starting to write on various topics (see fourth goal above). I also am not going to let the opinions of others deter me from the path that I’m starting on, as I know it will be a windy and bumpy road.
How do you handle things when everything seems to be going to hell?
Looking at past posts—I didn’t set any goals during the Leo new moon in 2020 (not surprising considering we were still in the beginning stages of the pandemic), and I did set some goals last year. The moon will be moving through the Leo constellation either tonight (or possibly last night-depending on where you are in the world), marking the seventh new moon. There are also only 156 days left in 2022…that means I really need to focus on certain goals…
But, what are some of things that one can do during the Leo New Moon? If we look to ‘Moonology: working with the magic of lunar cycles’ by Yasmin Boland—we’ll find suggestions such as:
Show off–celebrate life.
Flirt
Be creative
Love thyself–self-love, work on confidence, and leadership goals
Spoil thyself
So there are two things I won’t be doing (mainly because we’re still within the pandemic, and I’m trying to figure out my life)—and those are showing off and flirting.
I will work on self-love, my confidence, and leadership skills while being creative and spoiling myself (within reason).
Working on my confidence may be as easy as publishing more on LinkedIn (posts/articles), or even trying to do a video introduction to the Facebook page for the blog/website or something like that.
These are all good for being within the Leo constellation, but one should also look to see what house/zone the moon & Leo are progressing through as well. For me, that means that Leo is going through my 10th house, or my career zone. This is about my career & reputation (professional brand).
So what are some of the things that one can do during this time in regards to the career zone? They include:
Speak to your boss about how you’re doing
Help a colleague out of a rut
Check that you’re not become status mad
Start a new business as close to the new moon as you can
Apply for new jobs with confidence
When you’re earned it, take the credit
Plan your next best career move
So, we get to focus on our career zone twice a year (whenever the moon moves through our tenth house—which it does twice—new and full moon). This is fitting that the Leo new moon is happening right now, though since I’ve been on a reboot/career break fro the past two years there is one thing that I really can’t do, and that is speaking to my boss about how I’m doing (unless I want to talk to myself), I can try to help ‘colleagues’ out of ruts—as anyone who is job-searching is truthfully a colleague.
Plot my best career move—I’m looking for remote positions within science/medical/health communications (writing or marketing), while also being open to remote data analyst positions (that don’t require a vast knowledge of coding).
New business—I’m working on updating the blog/website (will probably be changing the url within a few weeks) to showcase both my creative and analytical sides. Having a freelance business up and running full time—is my long-term goal.
Apply for jobs with confidence—I’m slowly getting there. I almost have my LinkedIn profile optimized for writing (or data analysis), and I’m working on that ever-dreaded resume. In addition, I’ve been slowly working on creating a portfolio—I have a decent chunk of the molecular cloning project written up, and have outlines for two other ‘basic’ science series almost fleshed up, in addition to working on an outline for several oncology topics.
The writing won’t be the only part of the ‘new business’; I’m also going to do some crafts, photography, and other things as well. The look and organization of the blog therefore change over the coming months.
So looking at these two lists, my goals for the Leo New Moon will include the following:
Continue developing my self-care/self-love routine. This will include meditation time, time outdoors, journaling, stretching, and getting back into weight traning.
Create an editorial calendar for the blog and possibly even LinkedIn to help streamline projects and have an idea of waht I’m talking about different platforms. Also should think of creating an editorial calendar for Instagram as well. In addition to finish editing some pages on the blog.
Create my August BINGO card for goals
Continue working on filling out the job search spreadsheet.
Above all else: progress over perfection, and remembering the following words: growth, creativity, and curiosity.
While looking ahead to a ‘blank slate’ of 2022, I realized that I should also reflect on 2021 and the ups, down, hills, valleys, and everything in between. The post will probably seem a little bit ‘rambling’—but that is due to just writing what I’m thinking and not really organizing my thoughts beforehand.
We were still in the grip of the SARS-CoV2 pandemic during 2021. While there have been several vaccines approved (the Pfizer one received full approval from the FDA and CDC towards the end of the year), there is unfortunately still a good portion of the population that is refusing to get vaccinated.
Come early March, we will be entering year three of the pandemic—hopefully we’ll be seeing the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ by summer????
I’ve still been isolating at home (only leaving the house maybe a couple of times a week—one to get the paper on the weekends, then an occasional walk either at Boomer Lake with my camera or through the neighborhood with Chaos) for the most part this past year. Like everyone else, I would like for things to return to a ‘new normal’—but I also understand that it will take awhile for the ‘new normal’ to emerge and everyone to get on the same page.
I’m not planning on doing any type of travel this year (thanks omicron variant and anti-vaxxers), but hopefully maybe able to do a small trip sometime between 2023 and 2024.
Since the number of cases is still skyrocketing due to the omicron variant—I plan of trying to get my booster shot sometime within the next two weeks.
The only huge crisis we had this past year was with Rolex—when we took her to get an allergy shot, she developed the rare side effect of hemolytic anemia. So, the past few months have been a roller coaster as we try to help her overcome the anemia. So, far she’s had two blood transfusions and is on numerous medications—we’ll hopefully see if she can be weaned off of two of them entirely next month (I’m assuming one of the meds will be lowered again this month).
Chaos doesn’t care of strangers (which is both good and bad), so when I do have to take him into the vet—he has to be given meds to mellow him out. I’m hoping to possibly start taking him for longer walks (to where we might encounter other people) this coming spring.
In terms of my career—I think I’ve figured it ‘out’ (at least a little). I’m going to go in the direction of remote/contract/online science/medical communications/education with the end goal of creating my own freelance business (melding copywriting [medical/science communication/education, health/wellness, and personal/professional development] with blogging [hobbies, travels, and personal/professional development]). Therefore, the blog/website will be getting update throughout the year as I work my way in that direction.
I managed to land a ‘volunteer’ medical content writing position with a company in Canada during the summer—so I’m getting my ‘feet’ wet in the regards of summarizing scientific papers and other topics for the general public. In addition, I put in my application for a couple of freelance writing position and then a medical writers position—didn’t get any of them, but I was proud of the fact I went ahead and applied for each of them, being a total ‘newbie’ in the online medical writing world.
I’ve joined another accountability group—which is good, but since I’ve really ‘narrowed’ down what I want to do (remote/online writing and/or data analysis), I’m having problems finding the job postings. I’ll be working on those assignments, and giving updates throughout the next few months (which will include ‘linking the blog/website’ to my LinkedIn account).
Those were some of the highlights for the year, so how did 2021 go in general?
In terms of steps—I had a rough goal of at least 1,825,000 steps (breaking down to basically 5,000 steps per day). I managed to get 1,979,594 steps for the year, with the following monthly breakdown:
January: 159,685
February: 146,418
March: 197,430
April: 187,411
May: 187,855
June: 149,009
July: 140,686
August: 154,591
September: 157,114
October: 160,753
November: 168,476
December: 170,166
The months with the lowest number of steps happened to be during the summer, when it was a little too warm (or humid or both) to be outside walking either on my own or with my dog.
While I’d set the goal of completing nine workout programs throughout 2021—I managed to complete three, and then spent the rest of the year concentrating on more ‘intentional movements’ than fitness programs.
I also had set the goal of reading a minimum of 80 books (30 non-fiction and 50 fiction), and the actual total number of books that I read last year was a minimum of 127 books (12 non-fiction and at least 105 fiction). These included new and rereads (all of which were within the fiction category).
I met the goal of at least fifty fiction books (actually doubled it), and almost met half the goal of non-fiction books (thirty).
The non-fiction books I read during 2021 included:
Secrets of Six-Figure Women: Surprising strategies to up your earnings and change your life by Barbara Stanny
Badass Habits: Cultivate the awareness, boundaries, and daily upgrades you need to make them stick by Jen Sincero
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski
The Joy of Missing Out: Live more by doing less by Tonya Dalton
The Renaissance Soul: How to make your passions your life–A creative and practical guide by Margaret Lobensteine
The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living by Meik Wiking
Permission to Screw Up: How I Learned to Lead by Doing (almost) Everything Wrong by Kristen Hadeed
The Financial Diet by Chelsea Fagan
25 Ways to work from Home by Jen Ruiz
Write to Speak by Mike Acker
I want to do all the things: finding balance as a polymath, multipotentialite, and renaissance soul by Arcadia Page
The More of Less: Finding the life you want under everything you own by Joshua Becker
In terms of fiction books read during 2021 (new and re-reads), I managed to read (a minimum) of 105 fiction books, and they included:
Loved You Once (The Baker’s Creek Billionaire Brothers #1) by Claudia Burgoa
A Moment Like You (The Baker’s Creek Billionaire Brothers #2) by Claudia Burgoa
Defying Our Forever (The Baker’s Creek Billionaire Brothers #3) by Claudia Burgoa
Call You Mine (The Baker’s Creek Billionaire Brothers #4) by Claudia Burgoa
Blackout After Dark (Gansett Island #22) by Marie Force
Catalina (The Alders #10) by Avery Gale
I re-read the first nine books in the Alders series by Avery Gale
The Shadowdance Club (7 book series) by Avery Gale
Masters of the PrairieWind Club (11 book series–as of Feb 2021) by Avery Gale
Billionaire Unexpected–Jax (The Billionaire’s Obsessions #16) by J.S. Scott
Loving Arms (Slick Rock #30) by Becca Van
Reckless (Slick Rock #31) by Becca Van
Exception to the Rule (Beautifully Imperfect #7) by Becca Van
My One Night (On My Own #1) by Carrie Ann Ryan
State of Affairs (First Family #1) by Marie Force
Re-read the entire Fatal series (16 books) prior to State of Affairs coming out
Tempted by Love: Jack “Jock” Steele (The Steeles at Silver Island #1) by Melissa Foster
My True Love: Jules Steele (The Steeles at Silver Island #2) by Melissa Foster
Love Under Two Warriors (Lusty, Texas #42) by Cara Covington
Ride Out the Storm (SSI #6.5) by Monette Michaels
Wild and Loving (Slick Rock #32) by Becca Van
Royal Line (Tatter Royals #1) by Carrie Ann Ryan and Nana Malone
My Rebound (On My Own #2) by Carrie Ann Ryan
How Much I Love (Miami Nights #3) by Marie Force
As We Are (The Baker’s Creek Billionaire Brothers #5) by Claudia Burgoa
A Scent of Magick (McKendrick Warlocks #3) by Rhyannon Byrd
Come Together (Butler VT #7) by Marie Force
Inked Obsession (Montgomery Ink: Fort Collins #2) by Carrie Ann Ryan
The Green Mountain Series (7 books) by Marie Force
First six books in the Butler VT series by Marie Force
Vortex: A FBI Thriller by Catherine Coulter
Wiretaps and Whiskers (The Faerie Files #1) by Emigh Cannaday
Catnip and Curses (The Faerie Files #2) by Emigh Cannaday
My Next Play (On My Own #3) by Carrie Ann Ryan
Breaking Badger (The Honey Badger Chronicles #4) by Shelly Laurenston
Yours to Keep (The Baker’s Creek Billionaire Brothers #6) by Claudia Burgoa
Inked Kingdom by Carrie Ann Ryan
Inked Devotion (Montgomery Ink: Fort Collins #3) by Carrie Ann Ryan
Temptation after Dark (Gansett Island #23)
Finally You (Luna Harbor #1) by Claudia Burgoa
Enemy Heir (Tatter Royals #2) by Carrie Ann Ryan and Nana Malone
Mated in Darkness (Talon Pack #10) by Carrie Ann Ryan
Love Under Two Explorers (Lusty, Texas #43) by Cara Covington
My Bad Decisions (On My Own #4) by Carrie Ann Ryan
The Morgan Brothers (5 books) by Avery Gale
State of Grace (First Family #2) by Marie Force
Snow Dragon (Dragon Knights #16) by Bianca D’Arc
Gatekeeper (Dragon Knights #17) by Bianca D’Arc
Falling for Fallon (Masters of the Prairie Wind Club #12) by Avery Gale
Billionaire Unnoticed–Cooper (Billionaires Obsessions #17) by J.S. Scott
I’m pretty sure that there are probably another 20-30 books that I re-read during the year, but didn’t keep track of–what can I say, I’m a book worm and I would rather spend my evenings reading than watching TV.
While I had decided on doing a ‘no spend days/no spend weeks/limited spending month’, the only month that I really succeed at it was January. I ‘slipped’ and spent more money throughout the year than I really should have. I’ve pledge to restart the challenge this year, and to do better than I did last year (not aiming for perfection—but aiming for progress).
While the goal for 2021 was to finish at least twenty e-courses, I managed to finish nine throughout the year. I’d found that if I managed to watch several in a month, I ‘took’ the next month (or two) ‘off’ (probably unintentionally—letting ‘Pam’ win an unspoken argument). The courses that I ‘watched’ and ‘completed’ included:
On Skillshare:
Powerful storytelling today: strategies for crafting great content
3 ways often overlooked to get traffic to your blog
Finding your inner creative
Personal Branding: Your Copywriting Secret Sauce
Create a simple digital marketing plan
Crappy Copy: 8 digital copywriting mistakes you should avoid
Two Cheeky Scientist Association Advance Programs:
Clinical Research Coalition
Intellectual Property Pack
Then on Udemy:
Understanding and developing Emotional Intelliegence
The goal for 2022 will be to at least double (if not triple) the number of e-courses that I watch/finish.
One big accomplishment I that managed to get done during 2021 was the creation and updating of my comfort/stretch/risk/die diagrams. The first one that I did in February/March was an ‘assignment’ from a coach, when it became obvious (to her) that I was struggling with figuring out what I wanted to do with my life.
Since that first one—I’ve modified it four times, adding in a ‘bounce zone’ between the comfort and the stretch zone, and have watched the comfort and stretch zones (along with the bounce zone) grow, and the risk zone shrink.
I also created a personal/professional board game as well to help me ‘figure’ things out—and I’ve discovered the ‘biggest’ drawback on the game is that everything is ‘open-ended’ (such as review immunology or review cell biology).
I managed to teach myself basic cross-stitching this past year, and even finished three abstract design pieces. I started to do a more ‘nature’ based piece, and will probably try to turn it ‘abstract’ as I didn’t like how the cacti were turning out. I managed to spend quite a bit of time over the year up at Boomer Lake with my camera (one thing I still need to do is curate and delete all the really dark and/or blurry pictures I’ve taken over the past few decades).
Overall, 2021 was an okay year—not great (I mean there is still the pandemic), but also not a totally horrible year either. I’ve made progress in terms of personal and professional development (while some may see the past two years as ‘unemployed’—I view them as investing in myself)—maybe not as much as I’d originally liked, but still managed to do quite a bit. I’ve decided the career direction I’d like to pursue (remote/contract/online science/medical communications/writing and possibly data analysis), with the long-term goal of creating my own freelance business.
Therefore, heading into 2022, I’ve decided that:
I’ll have an overall BINGO card for the year (similar to what I tried to do for 2021), in addition to having BINGO cards for non-fiction books, e-courses, and intentional movement.
If I read a non-fiction book or complete/watch an e-course that isn’t on either of the current BINGO cards—I’ll write them down to put on an additional BINGO card.
The goal is to have at least a single BINGO on each of the cards (Bonus to have a totally checked BINGO card), and to have at least one BINGO on the overall yearly BINGO card as well.
I will transition into a remote/contract/online science/medical communications position. To help achieve that goal—I’m aiming at writing and publishing at least six scientific blog posts/articles by the end of the year. Each will be a minimum of 1000 words and will probably cover different topics I find of interest (or sub-topics within a specific ‘niche’).
In addition, I’m planning on writing at least two small literature reviews (being somewhere between 1000 and 1500 words), on one or two science topics, in addition to the larger project I’ve had bouncing around in my head for the past year.
I will also finish updating/modifying the blog/website to showcase the addition of science/medical writing in addition to my pieces on personal/professional development, hobbies, and travels.
Overall, I plan on 2022 being the year of ‘change’ and ‘growth’—growing as a science communicator, changing/transitioning into a ‘new’ position, and also finding my online ‘tribe’.
How was your 2021, and what do you have planned for 2022?
So, the moon will be entering the Capricorn constellation over the weekend, and the first new moon cycle for 2022. Though before looking ahead to the New Year and new moon, I should take a look back at the goals that I set for the Sagittarius new moon and see how I did with each of them.
The goals that I set for the Sagittarius new moon included:
Develop a ‘fluid’ daily/weekly schedule for getting various things done
Setting up a goal list/bingo card for 2022 (working semi from the larger 150+ goals in 2002 days challenge)
Starting to work through various e-courses
Setting up different ‘stations’ in the bedroom: work, craft, and meditation
So how did I do with each of them?
In terms of my first goal:
In terms of the ‘fluid’ daily/weekly schedule—I think I’m going to try a larger bullet journal that will be dedicated to being a weekly/daily planner and journal all wrapped into one. I’ve already set up a larger yearly planner/tracker (I just need to finish drawing in all the squares—but I’ve gotten all pages labeled for the entire year), and the weekly/daily will be based roughly on the larger yearly one.
I’m also going to have a separate journal for dealing with my oracle card drawings, reflecting on the card, and possibly even sketch them out into a short story (weekly spread, perhaps).
In terms of the second goal:
I’ve set up several bingo cards for 2022—an ‘overall’ yearly bingo card, an non-fiction reading bingo card, an intentional movement bingo card, and an e-course bingo card. The yearly one is similar to the one I set up for 2021—but this coming year, I’m hoping since it is in the ‘main’ habit-tracking journal I’ll look at it more often.
In terms of the third goal:
Working through the e-courses didn’t happen that much—though I did join an accountability group to help try to ensure a transition to a remote writing position sometime during 2022.
In terms of the fourth goal:
The semi-dedicated meditation area has been created, but the dedicated work and craft stations haven’t been created (yet). I’m hoping to get the dedicated workstation created over the weekend (I just have some rearranging of things to finish), but the dedicated craft station is on hold for a few months (until I have the funds secured for buying the desk/storage unit).
All in all—I’d say that I managed to meet possibly fifty percent of the goals (the schedule is in the works, and I created the bingo cards). The others are in the works (mainly creating the workstation and having set up a semi-dedicated meditation area). This past year, may not have gone the way I planned—but I did manage to accomplish numerous things (the top being—still self-isolating and currently not having contracting the SARS-CoV2 virus).
The next new moon is this weekend, and also marks the start of 2022. Here is to more progress forward towards the goals of transitioning into a remote writing position, reworking/rebranding the blog/website, and creating a copywriting/blogging business by the end of 2022.
So, we’re entering the full moon for December last night (December 18th), and I will probably be a day late in posting. This now means that there are only thirteen days left in 2021. I’m pretty sure I’m going to be cautiously peeking around the corner to see what 2022 is going to be bringing.
As I’ve been reflecting back on the past year (and actually two years), I’ve realized that while I may have a ‘economic gap’ on my resume—it isn’t a ‘experience gap’—I just have to take the plunge and actually state that I’ve been developing/creating a blog/website for the past few years (even if it hasn’t generated any revenue).
Before I get carried away in the direction of reflections and what I may or may not have accomplished this year (that will be the topic for at least one or two posts at the beginning of the year)—back to the topic at hand: December’s full moon.
Tonight the moon will be moving through the Gemini constellation, and there are questions that one can contemplate during the next few days. If one looks at “Moonology: working with the magic of lunar cycles” by Yasmin Boland, those five questions are:
Have I been gossipy, superficial, or flighty this month?
Have I been glossing over other people’s feelings?
Have I been too quick to change my mind, or too restless?
Have I been too much of a sliver-tongued hustler?
Have I done enough reading to keep expanding my mind?
My answers to the above questions are as follow:
Since we’re still dealing with the pandemic, I don’t think I’ve been gossipy, superficial, or flighty this month. I’m only around family still.
I don’t think I’ve been glossing over other people’s feelings either this month. Again–I’m only around family.
This depends on what we’re talking about–I haven’t changed my mind in terms of pivoting into a remote/online/contract writing and/or data analysis position and trying to start my own freelance company. Being restless–maybe a little, but hey–we’re heading into the second year of dealing with this damn pandemic and I think just about everyone is getting a little restless.
Nope.
Working on this—I’ve realized that I’ve been playing way to many games on the kindle instead of reading. So, I may end up ‘removing’ the games from the kindle and rededicate it to being a reading only apparatus.
So I’m also going to see what house the moon will be transition through during this time. Using my rising sign (which is Scorpio), the Gemini constellation is moving through my eighth house—the focus of this house on “death and rebirth, reinvention and transformation”.
Since we’re still in the middle of the pandemic, the past year has really been reflection and doing some personal/professional development. I’m confident that I’m ‘shutting’ the door to academia research (and possibly bench research as a whole) as I move forward with my career transition. I’m slowly working on transforming and reinventing myself as a remote/contract (and then full-time freelancing) writer/copywriter. I’m aiming to be semi-multi niche, only to keep myself from getting bored and burned out. Here is looking to 2022 has the ‘rebirth’ year for more of my ideas and plans.
So this is the time to try to find balance between slowing down, rushing to learn things, being real with people, money, and determining one’s self worth.
Therefore my small goal list for the last few weeks of 2021 (and the first few weeks of 2022), will include:
Finish setting up my master 2022 habit tracking journal. I’d decided to buy a larger bullet/dot journal and place all (or almost all) habit trackers that I’d been trying to use during 2021 into a single journal. This way, it should save me time overall during 2022, when I don’t have to copy them back in for the next month.
Start a non-fiction book. I’d been lax on my reading (even fiction) for a couple of weeks, so I’m trying to get back into a reading habit (may have to ‘remove’ the games from the kindle).
Continue to work on improving my evening/afternoon meditations.
Figure out an schedule/calendar for the blog/website heading into 2022 and beyond. Since I’m really leaning in the direction of writing—I need to become a little more consistent in posting, as I realized the past few months I haven’t posted as much as I had earlier in the year).
But above all, remind myself—that I’m making progress and that is what I should be striving for: progress over perfection, the ‘okay’ draft over the ‘polished/perfect’ never published draft.
Here is to the last full moon of 2021, and sending out happy thoughts and vibes to everyone, and fingers crossed that going into 2022 and beyond—things calm down, and everyone gets vaccinated.
