Finish What I Started: The gist of 2019

It is never too late to be what you might have been.

George Eliot

Three months have gone by in such a hurry.

As soon as I got back from Japan, I was head down in work for two weeks before I was on another plane to the USA.

Those three long weeks were some of the best I’ve had, with so many experiences that completely trumped my trip back in 2016.

But I know this also meant I had left Diwa Daily to dry, to gather cobwebs once again and completely break the system I’ve set up for it.

So, hi ?, and I’m really sorry for not updating DD for the past three months. ?

My theme for 2019

One of the reasons why I started this blog was to be more in tune with myself, to embrace blogging as how I did it back in 2007-2008 with my rainbow_light ? Xanga site.

Another is to share what I know, feel, create, and experience in this journey through life, and I intend to keep doing that this year.

But for 2019, I’ve set a “theme” that serves as my guidepost for what I want to do and what I want to achieve in life. It’s grounded on the many, many unmet goals and unaccomplished dreams I’ve had for myself for the past 4-5 years.

Finish what you started.

I’ve started a ton of things.

These things were ebooks, courses, tiny online web stores that didn’t succeed in making any significant profit.

These were systems I’ve built to be more productive; stationery I’ve bought to write more; Trello boards I’ve created to finish more projects.

These are notebooks, pencils, and pencils I’ve not used yet; books I’ve not read.

There’s just a lot of backlog and clutter that need to get done, so I’ve set this year’s theme to focus on getting through that backlog.

To make myself accountable, I’m announcing that these are the projects I aim to finish this year (and possibly beyond):

• Publishing my first poetry collection. Title has yet to reveal itself to me.
• Animalia
• The first year-end blog audit for diwadaily.com—I guess you can call it “spring cleaning” in December
• TurnsofPlace.com with Johna Baylon, my dear friend and fellow writer
• Diwa: The Folkworld Series—an old story that I’ve not given up hope on. It’s on Wattpad.

What I’ve done so far

• The year started out with working on my first poetry collection. These are poems that were written, and that have always sat in a folder in my computer, since ~2010. I’ve segregated the works into three sections/chapters, and have placed each file in Scrivener, a writing app designed to help writers to manage their work.
• Johna and I have finally published all twenty pieces of Turns of Place. This is a 3-4 year long collaboration that stood through time and distance—she’s in Hong Kong/Vancouver, while I’m here in the Philippines. We’re now about to publish the second half of the project.
• Diwa Daily continues to be an “ongoing” project, so I’ve revived the Trello board for the blog as well as the board for the DP store.
• Yes, there is a Diwa Daily store! It’s called Daily Pagerie and it houses stationery, books, and many other secondhand finds. This project’s turning a year old this April, and this month I’m adding new product pages for additional secondhand stationery.

To be continued

Everything I’ve started I intend to continue to the end.

Besides what I’ve shared so far, I intend to continue living the lifestyle I’ve developed since last year:

Decluttering my home to prepare for a HUGE renovation J and I are hoping to start within 3-5 years.

Saying “NO!” to single-use plastic, and disposable waste in general. We’re using our KeepCup cups everyday, having recently discovered a nearby coffee shop that serves pretty good cafe mocha.

Choosing not to buy more notebooks, pens, pencils, and books that aren’t part of my Book Collection.

Taking on Mandarin lessons in Duolingo + Skillshare classes each day.

Writing constantly, whether on my planner, on my Midori notebook, on a table napkin, etc.

I know, it’s a lot to keep up with. But I love each of these lifestyle changes and intend do my best to act on them each day.

That’s what counts, right? ?