It’s at this time every year I hear the debates about whether we set goals or not. I didn’t set any goals at the start of last year. 2018 had been a difficult year and all I knew at that point with any certainty was that I wanted another dog in my life. The universe  quickly obliged and on January 12th Harry arrived to live with us as his new forever home.

Harry’s arrival meant we had to quickly cover my lovely Laura Ashley settees with boring plain throws.

Knowing they would be there for the long term, I wondered how to make my settees a little more attractive. I thought a quilt would add some interest, but I couldn’t possibly start making a quilt unless I finished the king size quilt I’d started two years earlier and abandoned. Finishing said quilt involved a lot of free motion quilting.

I absolutely love it! This led to me dabbling with free motion embroidery…

But I grew frustrated at my inability to create the images I wanted to. And so I decided to learn to draw.

I loved it!

I loved it so much that I forgot all about FME and focused on drawing.

After nearly 3 months I was ready to add some colour to my pictures. On advice from Lovely Eldest about the best medium for a beginner to try, Santa obliged with some appropriate presents.

So this is where I’m at at the beginning of this year; about to head out on a painting adventure. Should I set goals for what I want to achieve in this (and elsewhere)? Or should I just go with the flow?

Going with the flow last year took me in an unexpected direction. But maybe if I’d set goals I’d have set one to finish the king size quilt and ended up exactly here anyway. Or maybe if I’d set that goal along with others I would have had the other goals calling me so hard I’d wouldn’t have ended up here.

And wherever I’d ended up, who’s to say if it would be a better or worse place to be in? (This certainly isn’t a bad one.)

Every day we make a many many decisions. Even the smallest seemingly most insignificant can change the course of our lives forever.  IMO there’s no point looking back and wondering if we made a right/wrong or good/bad decision; we just took the choice we thought was right at that time. And for me, there’s no right or wrong in choosing to set goals; it’s whether we feel we need/want to set them or not, and how we chose to use them if we do.

Have you chosen to set goals this year? And why did you chose/not chose to set them?

Until next time (when I may or may not be setting some goals)

Bekki x