2018 Mid Year Check-In
So we're now in the second half of 2018! Why is it the older you get, the faster time seems to pass? In the spirit of accountability and transparency, I've decided to see how or if my actions over the past 6 months have been aligned with the intentions I set in January.
Personal Intentions
Pescatarian Diet
I'm still going strong and actually had my one year anniversary in June. I plan to continue this diet for as long as it makes sense and I believe it has been the biggest contributor to my improved reproductive health. Even though I haven't eaten land meat in over a year, every time I get a whiff of some fried chicken, I contemplate risking it all for a flat!
Healthy Financial Habits
This has been a struggle lately, especially the last couple of months as I'm figuring out how to earn a living doing the things I love. I've made my desires clear and I'm putting in the work. As there are 5 months left in this year, I'm working to turn things around. I'm confident I can pay off the little bit of credit card debt I've accumulated, but this private student loan is a whole 'notha story!
Visit A New Country
This didn't happen while I was in Mexico and I haven't made any plans for this as of yet. I haven't ruled it out, but it's no longer a priority for 2018. If it happens it will be a spontaneous, last minute trip.
Mastering Spanish
My Spanish definitely improved after spending 6 months in Mexico. I would say I'm fluent, but at a beginner/intermediate level of fluency and not a master yet. I define fluency as being able to communicate successfully in the given language. Since I've been back, I have not been practicing regularly, but my phone is still in Spanish and I've used the Gritty Spanish app.
Spirituality
I'm definitely excelling here! I started observing the moon phases and purchased more crystals for energy work while still in Mexico. Since coming back to the States I have continued these practices and added more. My visit to the South stirred some things up too and I had my first reiki session in June. Look out for a more detailed post on this in the near future.
Business Intentions
Sharing More
I have absolutely shared more digitally than I did last year, even participating in VEDA for about 22 of the 30 days (lol) via Instagram in April. While I haven't shared something somewhere every single day, I do manage to share something 2-3 times a week and I'm comfortable with this. I recently joined a #BlackJoy meditation challenge hosted by Black Imagination.
Coaching
My relationship with coaching is evolving. While I enjoy it, after getting back into coaching at the beginning of this year, I've realized the way I practice it is no longer sustainable for me. Coaching has been suspended via this site and Black Minimalists, but we are thinking about how to make it more sustainable and in alignment with our personal and business goals.
Minimalist Memoir
This is still happening! Though my birthday has passed, I'm still planning to release it by the end of this year. I re-released Live Simply & Be Free this month and I'm working on The Lazy Minimalist next.
Jewelry Making
New jewelry is coming soon! I was struggling with this in the beginning of the year. As my minimalist journey evolves, I'm called to further interrogate my participation in consumerism, capitalism, and the draining of the earth's resources. I think I've found a balance though. Instead of purchasing all new materials to make jewelry, I'm looking for pieces in thrift stores and other second-hand shops that I can upcycle. I also have various supplies leftover from past years I want to use up. I'm not sure on incorporating crystals because they aren't readily available in the thrift shops I frequent, but if I come across some in my travels that I'm drawn too, I will pick them up. Recycling materials to create something new is definitely going to be a challenge to my creativity and this will absolutely be an experiment in slow art-making, but it's worth it!
Black Minimalists
Sustainability is a main theme this year. We celebrated our first anniversary in May and came to the conclusion we are evolving. BM is currently on hiatus for the summer, but stay tuned because we are working on something that will take us deeper into community.
So that's it. I'd say it's been a pretty good first half overall. I can't believe how much I've learned and changed just in 6 months, lawd!
How did the first half of the year go for you? Are you still on track?
My 2018 Intentions
I wasn't going to share my 2018 goals and intentions, but ironically, one of my overall intentions for this year is to share more of my life in the digital spaces I frequent, so here we go.
With one week down in 2018, I'd say it's off to a great start, mainly because I started working on many of my goals and intentions in December. I've found the secret to starting off my new year right is to already have my plans in motion. That way, when the new year hits, I'm not scrambling to figure out what I'm doing with my life and how I'm going to make my intentions a reality. I think it also puts the right energy out into the universe that I'm serious about achieving my goals. So below, I'm sharing a few personal and business intentions I'm working on this year.
Personal Intentions for 2018
Flexitarian Diet
It's really a pescatarian diet that includes eggs. I've been pescatarian twice before, but this is actually my longest run. This last time, I started in June 2017 and I'm still going strong. I thought it would be difficult to maintain living in Mexico because they love meat here, but with the abundance of produce stands and markets, it's actually easier. I also eat less seafood than I have previously, but eggs are still a staple. I will share more about the reasons behind my most recent change as well as what I'm eating here in Mexico in future blog posts.
Healthy Financial Habits
I shared my financial struggles a while back on my Youtube channel. I started making changes at the end of 2016 when I realized I wanted to move abroad and really got serious in 2017. I managed to stick to my budget, pay off extraneous debts that had been lingering for a few years, carry a zero or low balance on my credit card most months, raise my credit score, and stay current on student loans. In addition to all that and even with some setbacks, I managed to save $6,000.
While my financial situation has changed while living abroad, my goal is to continue these habits in 2018. It's not about how much money you have, it's about how you use it. I'll be talking more about how I'm able to live abroad financially.
Visit a New Country
This is a stretch goal for me due to my new financial situation I mentioned above, but still, it's been almost two years since I've been to a new country. Living abroad in Mexico is a unique experience, but there's still a whole world out there to see. I'd love to go to Jamaica and even if I only cross the border into neighboring Belize or Guatemala, I'm going somewhere new.
Mastering Spanish
Becoming fluent in Spanish has been a goal of mine forever and it's one of the reasons I chose to live abroad in Mexico. You may not know, but I majored in Anthropology and Latin American Studies. I've had an interest in Latin American culture since middle school when I first discovered there were black folks living in Cuba. I studied Spanish for 8 years between high school and college and studied abroad in Cuba, still fluency has eluded me.
If you're not disciplined to study every day and you're not immersed in the culture, it's difficult to master a language. Fortunately, living in Mexico, I encounter Spanish every single day mostly through speaking and reading. I'm also studying grammar and vocabulary. My phones are also in Spanish. I can tell my Spanish has improved significantly just in the three months I've been here and all those Spanish classes are finally paying off.
Spirituality
This year I'm digging deeper into my personal magic. I believe we all have spiritual abilities, we just have to access them. For me, I've been learning about energy and crystals. I purchased my first crystals last year. I picked my meditation practice backup, using this app. I'm also learning about the energy and capabilities of plants. I've always been attracted to nature and believed that all living beings are connected and exchange energy. Mexico is also a magical place. Pueblos Magicos isn't just a marketing campaign. I knew from my first visit here in 2013, it was a special place and conducive to spiritual work. Spirituality is about balance, healing, growth, and discovery.
Business Intentions for 2018
Sharing More
This is a personal and business intention, so I'll talk about it first. I'm an introvert. It took me until I was 30 to understand it, but it's true. My intention has always been to share my life through this blog, but I've struggled with how to share my brand and my self. I decided to do less branding and marketing and more sharing. Stop worrying about having "on-brand" copy, graphics, and services and just put myself out there as is. I stripped this site down to my current diary, the archive, and my coaching. My goal is to share something somewhere (on at least one of my platforms) everyday. This could be in the form of posts, commenting, stories, video, reposts, it doesn't matter as long as I'm active.
Coaching
I haven't done a lot of coaching over the past year while working on the launch of Black Minimalists and I'm ready to get back at it helping you simplify you life and focus on your goals. I really enjoy seeing people make progress in their lives and accomplish things they didn't think were possible and playing any small or large part in that is a bonus. Looking for guidance on your minimalist journey, click here.
Minimalist Memoir
I don't remember if I mentioned this last year, but it's happening this year. I wrote all my minimalists stories in a special journal throughout 2017, now all I need to do is edit, format, and design it. I want to release it on my 35th birthday!
Jewelry Making
This was a struggle for me last year. I had a whole collection planned, I made several sample pieces, but it just wasn't meant to be. With the work I did last year and my new interest in crystals, I think I've found my inspiration for 2018.
Black Minimalists
We launched BM in May 2017 and the first 8 months have been great. We've grown significantly as a team and community and more folks are finding us everyday. I'm so grateful and happy this community exists. Stay tuned for big things with our one year anniversary coming up!
So there you have it. It seems the previous years have been all about laying the ground work and 2018 is all about manifesting the fruits of my work. I'm ready!
What are your goals and intentions for 2018?
New Year, (Sorta) New Blog, Still Minimalist
I've been gone for a minute, now I'm back, it's 2018!
It's hard to believe I haven't posted on here in over a year, but after I returned from the Philippines in July 2016, I made a major decision to leave the States. From that point up until this fall, I had been preparing to move abroad. This meant getting very clear on my priorities including paying off debt, saving a lot, minimizing my possessions, and spending as much time as possible with family and friends. Also, after going back and forth about the future of Black Minimalists and my place in that future, I resolved to launch BM in 2017.
Fast forward to now and I'm currently living in Orizaba, Mexico and Black Minimalists is eight months old! Following through on these two major goals has been very rewarding and empowering, but I have been missing this space.
If you've been subscribed to me since the very beginning in 2014, then you know this blog has been through a few transitions and with each rebrand, I feel I've gotten closer to creating a digital space that truly reflects who I am and what I want to share with the world. At this point in my life, I really just want to share myself and my lifestyle in a simple, but direct way so I'm going old school and using this space as a digital diary.
I will be documenting the current phase of my minimalist life while living abroad and reflecting on how my life has evolved over the past five years since starting this journey. Of course, I'll still be offering tips, resources, and coaching to help you find your own freedom and simplicity in the process.
In the coming days and weeks, I'll be talking more about why I decided to leave the States and what it's like to move and live abroad while minimalist. You can also find me hanging out around interwebs on Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, and Facebook.
Happy New Year!