Past January 1st posts to compare

(Here's January 1st posts from. 2012 and 2013)

Sunday, 1 January 2012

The ability to 'compartmentalise' my activities is a real useful tool in my life. 

I rigidly set a timer of one hour onto my phone while I read a book. Then I allow two hours to enjoy a film. Maybe two half hour sections on a box set I'm working my way through. 

These examples have stretched too far though and it's something I need to reign in. 

I seem to have applied rigid rules to my every move and it's crippling me for no good reason. 

Let's say I eat my breakfast and I already plan to eat dinner at 12pm. 

That means if I have a snack it has to be eaten at 10am. If I have a yogurt then it has to be eaten at 2pm because I will eat my tea at a predetermined time too. 

So you see that I sometimes have to stop being so daft. 

If I'm hungry I should eat then. If I want a yogurt earlier then I should just eat it.

The problem is the feeling I feel when I have set rules and not followed them. It's ridiculous. I need to lighten up and I am trying. Spinning plates of recreation is a good way to cover all bases and utilise time the best but when it becomes all consuming, it's a bad thing. 

I can be a prisoner of myself. 

I will endeavour to be easier on myself. 

I saved a shoebox for this new year of 2012 so that I could save cinema ticket stubs and other momento's which will paint a picture of the year so that I can build up a collection of shoeboxes which itemise every year. I will write on a piece of paper inside any important results as they happen. It will be like The time capsule boxes that are popular with schools which they bury on the school grounds. 

Yeah just another thing I commit to for no really good reason. My diaries keep needing to be written. My blog seems to be still somewhere to throw any excess thought. The only thing that seems to have reduced in content is Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter. However I now post music I have made on Soundcloud which is more time consuming than the others combined. 

But all things considered I still feel EXACTLY where I want to be. 

Posted by Chris Whitehouse 

Tuesday, 1 January 2013

Day one....again.

The first day of 2013. My slate is clean. I can only look forward to the next 364 days and hope they keep me happy. I bought my three diaries which structure each year throughout. 

So now as the sun descends on the day towards four pm, I sit watching my first film of the year, IN BRUGES. I have all my work things laid out in good time so that it doesn't feel like a bad thing later as my holiday comes to an end and the only thing left is to prepare for work. 

So now I have hours of cramming in holiday relaxation and straight to bed before the welcome return of the routine. I'm so very lucky to like my job which allows me time to think, write and even read throughout. 

I started the day with a glass of water which I hope to turn into a routine too, but lets not make to a fucking 'resolution', ok? 

Christmas had moments when I was surrounded with alcohol or with people consuming it. I looked at the liquid fun and imagined drinking every person's drink which they held. 

The feeling shite memory has faded but luckily the knowledge that I hate hangovers still lingers. Maybe my path will cross with alcohol one day in the future ( and so also self destruction) but not yet. 

I'm controlling my actions even tighter than ever this year. I will be a ghost locked away in an empty castle and only I will know my comings and goings. 

Solitude will be a closer ally. I will continue to blog and so you are one of the few who will have access to what the solitude leads to. Think of it as an experiment in the benefits of keeping others away. On the flip side I hope to do at least on travel weekend with my friend which I pray will put something new in to my brain and may lead to further evolution for my soul.