With the news of the Oxford vaccine getting the nod this morning I decided I might as well engage in looking forward a little bit and have a think about what I might like to achieve in 2021.

Despite the great news regarding the vaccine I still think the best case scenario is that the first half of 2021 is basically ‘2020-The Return’. Tiers and lockdowns and mutating strains will be fighting for news coverage with feel good vaccine stories…but at some point (my money is actually September/October and I’m told I’m too optimistic by some) things will start to settle down – I’m loathe to say get back to normal as I can’t imagine things will ever really be the same as before all of this.

So anyway my ambitions end up splitting into a game of two halves anyway even without the virus.

2021.1

This is inevitably going to be dominated by getting my health back together. I’ll definitely be re-habbing my foot, probably the same with my knee if it needs an operation (which I will find out soon as I decided to go and see a private specialist to accelerate that).

I think I’ve shaken off the Long COVID issues but honestly it is hard to tell as I’ve done so little since the accident and it is hard to tell if the fatigue is pain or virus related. Fingers crossed that is done though and that my rehab provides a framework for wider exercise as well. I think the yoga-ish stuff I was doing earlier in the year might work out and I quite liked that.

I need to get my diet back inside the guide-rails and honestly I need to take some time off the booze again. Certainly I need to drink less.

Get vaccinated 😉 I’m in ‘group six’ apparently so hopefully I’ll get my first jab before the summer.

Work looks pretty set until April at least – I have a main project to focus on and a bunch of other bits and pieces to contribute to. I’ve decided not to sweat some of the bigger picture stuff in 2021 – do I really care about my job title or my perceived seniority? Well clearly sometimes I do but I need to care less.

Be nice to read a bit more again (well read something that isn’t a comic!). I’m going to set a bit of an easy target here. Five fiction and five non-fiction books by end of June. No gimmes (i.e. no more Robert B. Parker et al). Not reading much this year did not equal not buying books so I have quite a backlog to chose from.

I might have another go at getting my sticker shop off the ground – I was literally going to send off the artwork for sticker packs the day I got hit by the car and haven’t had the headspace to revisit it since. I still like the idea of a (non-profit) sticker distribution site.

I do have this faint urge to try and write some fiction – nothing grand, maybe a couple of short stories? I think I’ll do this just for me much as that is out of character 😂 I’m never comfortable sharing my fiction which is weird given how much other crap I put out in the world!

Learn how to use this iPad Air/Pencil/Procreate combo properly for my doodling and generally keep practicing and then get back outside painting as soon as I can.

Rather than #weeknotes I thought I might try ‘Morning Pages‘ for a few months and see how that works for me. I have my nice new fountain pen and a new notebook.

Be a better, more available friend.

2021.2

Assuming borders reopen and air travel doesn’t become impossibly expensive basically the second half of 2021 is all about travel for me. I want to get AWAY. It isn’t so much that I need to refresh or reboot – I need to REWIRE myself top to tail and going on the road for a while seems the best chance I have of that.

I’ve written about where I want to go already.

What else? Well I’d like to write for someone/something else. I’m not worried about getting paid but I’d like to get my ‘byline’ on some professional publications (whatever that means these days.)

I’d like to guest on a podcast even though I hate the sound of my voice.

Officially mentor someone.

Study something. I’m not even sure what I mean by this – not a ‘training course’ or a ‘certification’ – something interesting and useful with some kind of gold star at the end! Something that could be done on the road – in different time zones.

By the end of 2021 I want my jobs newsletter to have evolved…I’m not sure into what yet but if I am going to keep going with it I need it to be a bit more interesting for me!

Paint something big and public (that I am not embarrassed by!).