A Trip to Troy: Reflections + Resolutions

Hello friends!
I haven't blogged much this holiday season. It's just been a time for family and for re-mending friendships and relationships with those around me. But now I'm back and ready to talk about the past, present, and future happenings.

   So before Christmas, Tyler and I took a trip to Troy. We've been trying to truly understand each other more through December and into this new year. We've been discussing our aspirations and interests more, and I expressed that I missed when we visited South Carolina, and even just going on tiny adventures to places we have never visited before. I told him that I recently stumbled upon an old blog post about one of our trips to the Short North and that it made me really inspired to adventure more and to document my experiences along the way.

   So Tyler spontaneously decided, why not go to Troy? I hardly took pictures, unfortunately, but it was only because he and I were having a lot of discussions and reflections throughout our couple of hours we spent there.

   
​   Our trip there was so simple. We ate Chinese food, then proceeded by going to Winan's for some beverages. But despite the couple of stops we made, this small journey made us both think. He and I talked a lot about our goals through school, through work, and through our relationship. We discussed our values in life, what matters to us most. And these conversations haven't just been on this trip, of course, but practically all through December. Topics like these are important, especially when he and I are both seeking growth in various areas of our lives.

​   So besides becoming more open and communication-happy with Tyler, my current happenings have included preparing for my Spring semester and just organizing my thoughts and relationships in general. I've been becoming even better friends with a bunch of my coworkers, spending more time with my sister and grandma, and trying to improve my health and diet lately as well. I've also been reading back through old blog posts and have been watching my growth through the past year. I figured I may go ahead and talk a little bit about that before talking more about what resolutions are important to me this year.
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Photo by Tyler, and the lighting was slightly edited by me

   So through 2017 I've written a weekly blog post nearly every single week. The only time I messed up my streak was one week over the summer when I was on vacation, and then when I was prepping for finals. And then through December my focus has been on spending time with friends and family over the holidays, so I didn't quite stay on track with my weekly blog posts. But hey, it was for good reason.

   I sometimes found myself doubtful of my blogging style through this time. But at the same time, I've come to realize that I write about topics that matter to me. And I work hard on what I choose to publish. Here are some of my favorite moments that I documented through the year...

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(7/4/17) That time Angie photographed me with dollar store smoke bombs. This series of photos was used for My Anxiety Story Pt. II, where I discussed my flawed skin.

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(5/22/17) When I wrote Keep On Grinning, where Megan took me out to help relieve me of some of my spontaneous depression. It inspired me to spread the message that it's okay to not be okay.

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(8/13/17) When I documented my first time on a plane, aka my biggest fear ever. I wrote the blog post series Fight [F]or Flight to share my experience along the way.

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(10/9/17) When I shared a compilation of all my mental health related blog posts for World Mental Health Day. This compilation was so important to me because my entire focus of this blog is to help people, and I feel like this year has been filled with so many honest blog posts about my hardships with anxiety and depression. Thank you all for the support through all of these.

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   These four moments are basically just repeats from my World Mental Health Day compilation, but these are the moments this year that mattered the most to me. I wrote a lot of beauty related posts as well, but lifestyle posts matter the most to me. I spoke very little about my new job (because I like to keep some of my current endeavors private), but through my job and through school, I've gained so much more confidence in myself as well as so many new friendships. I appreciate all of those people I've met through 2017.

   I also found a bit more success on my blog this year when I wrote a post for BeautyCounter (I love partnering with businesses whenever I can), but other than that I kept things fairly mellow. However, after my vacation to South Carolina, I wanted more from this blog. And I think that's when I gained even more confidence in myself as well as an even more intense goal for this blog. So allow me to talk about my resolutions for 2018 after experiencing a more open 2017 on the blog.

   ​Funny thing is, I initially didn't think I had any resolutions. But I guess I technically do.

   So as I mentioned earlier on in this post, I missed documenting little adventures. And after my trip to South Carolina, the craving was even more intense to blog about my journeys. I began telling Tyler about all the places I wanted to eventually vists and about my desire to be a lifestyle and travel blogger. So badly. It's still a definite want of mine. Somewhere towards the end of 2017, after that trip, I changed my blog 'genre' on social media to 'lifestyle blog'. I write about a ton of things, but in general, I want to maintain a clear focus on mental health and finding happiness. That's certainly an increasing goal for 2018. To become even more comfortable sharing my little adventures on the road and in life itself.

   I also want to give myself more credit sometimes. In my recent blog post, The Art of Being Good Enough, I discussed the fact that I tend to compare myself. But in writing that, I became more content and accepting of my quirks. I intend on making 2018 a year of self love. I'm proud of how much I open up on the internet. I'm proud of my willingness to reach out and help those who need a pick-me-up. I'm proud of how hard I work to take my own photos (which I usually do, unless otherwise stated in whatever blog post someone else may assist me with) and to publish content that truly matters right now. My desire to help people has always been there, and this year, I want to continue to voice my struggles and my journey to further my self-acceptance.

   This blog post has been all over the place. But after my trip to Troy, I had a lot of thoughts about 2017 and 2018 that I needed to share.
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What are some of your resolutions for 2018?

Keep on grinning!

​Lydia