Day One

I had some difficulty sleeping last night.

First of all, let me go ahead and let you all in on how lame I really am – I was in bed by 10pm. On New Year’s Eve.

I PROMISE I have friends, friends who even invited me to things for NYE. But I’m about to prepare for departure back to Texas for work, and I wanted to start 2018 with a clear head and fresh eyes.

I set my alarm for 7:00 this morning, excited to embark on the NEW YEAR, and get right to my number one 2018 goal: writing every day. Every. Single. Day.

No, there will not be blog daily blog posts, so go ahead and relax with a “phew,” I know you want to.

But to spend a certain amount of time each morning before I let myself peek at email, Instagram, running through everything I have to do that day, writing. Before all of that, I will write.

I have some other goals as well, some of which I’ll share, some of which I won’t.

Anyways, back to sleep. I found myself waking up often last night, tossing and turning, wanting so badly to look at the clock. Yet despite the restless night, I feel incredibly rested today. Because my inability to sleep didn’t have anything to do with worry or lumpy pillows. It was excitement.

I mentioned in a post last week that, despite being 27, I was anxious to wake up on Christmas morning and I shot right out of bed with wide eyes and curiosity. And that’s what I experienced again today. I was so anxious to wake up to a new year, to feel that clean slate, to WRITE THIS POST, I couldn’t freaking sleep. Talk about a total nerd.

So here I am, writing. And grinning. And I actually kind of have butterflies in my stomach. (My friend Kayla is probably rolling her eyes and saying “oh my God” right about now.) BUT IT’S TRUE. Everything feels so full of possibility. And I don’t care how cliche it is to say that.

I wrote a post last year on New Year’s Day that was of a similar fashion to this. In case you don’t memorize every word I write and have the ability to recall that post, here’s a refresher if you’re curious. I talked about the beauty of a clean slate, how there’s nothing more exciting and hopeful than that. And you know what? It’s still so freaking true. (I was so wise, even an entire year ago!)

January 1, a NEW YEAR, is such a beautiful thing. Not because the day itself is special, and I’m not throwing an ounce of shade if you spend the day hungover, binge-watching Gilmore Girls. (I hope my audience is the type that watches Gilmore Girls.)

I mean it’s the start of a new chapter in the book of your life. (Okay, even I almost gagged at that one. Sorry.) It’s a day to take in all the crap that happened to you last year and say “this year will be different.” And you know what? It totally can be.

But remember…it’s all about attitude, isn’t it? Come on, you know it’s true. Life is full of disaster and heartbreak and loss. But those things are not what you’re meant to focus on. (Well, I hope you don’t plan on focusing on only those things.)

When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. (…….mic drop.) As much as I’d love to be able to credit that to myself, it goes to Wayne Dyer, whoever that dude is.

The truth here is…undeniable I think. It’s. All. About. Perspective.

If you do read my blog post from last January 1 (no pressure) you’ll see that I end it with a goal for myself to have a more open mind, a better attitude, a willingness to deal with life’s curve balls. To stare them right in the face, say “okay,” deal with them, and move on.

And while I certainly have more work to do in this area, dammit I think I did better at it in 2017 that I ever have before. And hey 2017 Tori, 2018 Tori is here and she wants me to let you know that you ‘ain’t seen nothin’ yet.’ (Because apparently this is how 2018 Tori talks.)

I hope that no matter how hungover you might be, and I kind of hope you are at least a little hungover because not everyone can be as lame as me, you still wake up with appreciation and excitement of a clean slate. I hope you look 2018 right in the face and say, “you ain’t ready.”  (2018 Tori, WHO ARE YOU?)

Borrowing my closing line from last year’s post:

Here’s to a clean slate. May 2018 be your best, most curious year yet.

(Because how awesome is that line?)

Curiously,
Tori