My 2017 Goals

Happy 2017, friends!

Earlier this week, I sat around in a hot tub with some of my good friends, and we talked about our goals for the year. One of my goals is to not go hot tubbing in the winter with a head cold, but hey, we’re all working on something. Over the years, I’ve gone from being a bit lazy and lost when it comes to self-direction to finding so much energy from creating and achieving goals. I know some people say creating goals stresses them out, but for me, it’s all about baby steps and writing ‘em down.

I’ve started writing a list of goals for each year in my personal journal, and since it’s so fun to look back and see what I hoped/prayed for and what I accomplished, I decided to share a few of ‘em here!

1. Host More People in my Home
Whether it’s for a quick after-work cheese plate or a three-day weekend, I want my apartment to be a place family and friends feel welcome and rested.

2. Take a Trip Overseas (and travel more in general)
Since high school, it’s been rare for me to be in good ‘ole Springfield without seeing much more of the world, but 2016 was different. I didn’t travel much this year, and while I love my hometown, sometimes a gal's gotta put her passport to use.

3. Cut the Clutter
While I’m certainly not planning to buy a tiny house and become a minimalist (SO admire that lifestyle, but then I walk in an Anthropologie and lose all self control), I do want to purge some unnecessary things from my life. (Lookin’ at you, high school prom dress.)

4. Write More (and Read More!)

This goal has three parts:

- Blog more than I did in 2016

- Continue writing for organizations I admire

- Send more handwritten letters.

On the reading thing, I read a lot for work. It's kinda my job. BUT, that being said, I want to read more for myself this year.

It probably goes without saying, but the best part of the hot tub time wasn’t telling everybody what I wanna do, but hearing about their dreams for 2017! Comment, email, text or message me your goals. I want to hear ‘em!

Outfit details: Coat - Vince Camuto (last season, similar here), Turtleneck Dress - c/o StyleWe, Orange Tunic - H&M (out of stock, similar here), Boots (Similar)

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What Does Your Handwriting Say About You?

When I first heard that Friday was National Handwriting Day, I had several thoughts:

Thoughts like, Who comes up with these national "holidays"? Can I be that person? Does that same person also name the crayon colors at Crayola? What does your handwriting say about you? I don't dot my lowercase i's. Does this mean something weirdly terrible or fascinating about me?

I have some answers:

The Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association created National Handwriting Day back in 1977. They chose January 23 "in conjunction with John Hancock's birthday" because, y'know, his name is the HUGE one on the Declaration of Independence. 

I can imagine the scenario perfectly. John Hancock signing the Declaration of Independence was like the first person to sign the "happy birthday" card or the "get well soon" card at the office/church/whatever party, and he turns around to a long line of people scowling at him for taking up all the space and practically writing a paragraph about how much he loves America just based on the sheer size of his name when there are 55 other dudes left to sign it. Then, the whole U.S.A. recognized him forever based upon that one embarrassing moment, and now there is a random holiday (sort of) in his honor.

Graphology is the name for the analysis of handwriting to determine facts about an individual--usually the person's psychological state at the time of writing, or certain personality traits. It's considered by most to be a pseudoscience, but nonetheless, you can get certified with a "Diploma Course in Forensic Graphology" (ooh, very fancy) from The Cambridge School of Graphology.

^ See, you can learn plenty of things about people from their handwriting, like if they are poor planners and run out of space on the paper. 

According to research from the National Pen Company, "writing the capital letter "I" much larger than other capitals is usually written by someone who is arrogant and has a high opinion of themselves." They also noted that, "writing that changes dramatically over the course of a text is symbolic of lying." They say that a signature that is not legible means "you are very private, hard to read or understand" while a legible signature means "you are comfortable in your own skin; you don't need to pretend you're something you're not." So--Obviously many doctors are private, hard to read or understand. 

As far as dotting i's goes -- According to John Cowens, a dot centered above the stem says you're "over-precise," a dot to the right of the stem says you "tend to act quickly or hastily," and no dot says you're reckless and/or have a poor memory.

I was going to say something else to finish off this post, but I forgot what it was.

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