45. I might be different from most

All my life I have felt a bit different but I have tried to fit in. I am pretty much over trying to fit in.

What has been exciting me lately is finally deciding that I don’t need to join a group or crochet for charity and I am also getting everything ready for an amazing 2025. I have been spending so much time preparing my planner that I have found it hard to write my newsletter and make new doll clothes. I lose track of time while creating my planner pages and have to force myself to take breaks from the computer. Right now I am obsessed with everything planning related and I expect it to go on until the new year.

Is thinking I’m different arrogant or am I just different?

Do you ever feel like you need to choose a topic carefully when you chit chat with people?

Do you find that your mind starts to wander a bit as everyone else in the group talks about their sick husband or their sick dog or their troublesome grown up kids?

When working at creating a life that is full of rich experiences and positive thoughts I find that I am quite different from many of those around me.

I have to consciously make an effort not to get dragged into the complaining and negative talk that tends to overwhelm so many conversations.

I could be imagining it, but I think I come across as uninterested or snooty or just rude when I don’t say much or I don’t agree or I try to change the subject.

I often find it hard to genuinely connect with people or genuinely take an interest in what interests them. Women of my generation rarely know much about anything to do with computers. Women of my generation seem to do more of the same when they retire or become widows. Crocheting or knitting for charity seems to come up a lot. Not that I have anything against being charitable but I like to donate money rather than give up my time. I use a lot of my time to move forward and find new experiences to tick off my bucket list.

(I have a bucket list that I started quite a few years ago. I look at it every few years. I have ticked off quite a few items. The list is so old that I have items on there referring to putting my patterns on CD and selling them. There are several outdated items that I will have to replace.)

Being part of community groups was something that was high on my priority for many years because every personal growth book, course or website says it is important to be part of community groups. Even as recent as last year I tried to become part of 2 community groups. I lasted a couple of months and went back to doing my exercise and craft projects at home by myself. I love doing things by myself. I find group activities are draining and way to slow. I couldn’t manage to focus because it was expected that I talk and have fun. It wasn’t fun for me.

So, now I have completely given up trying to join a group. I am not cut out to do things in a group. I’m not lonely. I’m friends with the neighbours and I talk to many of the people I see while I’m out walking or doing errands around town and I am always on the lookout for a kindred spirit. You never know when someone who just gets you will turn up.

I am obsessed with getting organised for 2025

My latest all consuming project is to create an amazing planner for myself for 2025 and share it in my Etsy shop and with my paid subscribers. Not having any pesky group meetings to go to means it doesn’t matter if my projects are all consuming. My only unbreakable rule is sticking to screen time limits.

Last week I included the 2025 calendar pages that I am using in my planner.

This week I am sharing my Future Log pages. Because I want to keep just one month at a time in my planner it is important to have a place to write in appointments and plans that happen in future months. Over time I have realised that I don’t need a lot of space for each month in the Future Log. Rarely do I have things happening on more than 3 or 4 dates.

Each six months covers a 2 page spread so you can mark dates with a dot and put details in the space on the second page. I like having the calendar grid visible so it is easy to block out whole weeks at a time.

By mid December I am hoping to have finished page layouts for all my Yearly section pages as well as the monthly and weekly pages for my Agenda section. Other sections I am working on are Productivity, Health, Finances and Notes.

Cheers,

Val