Abbey Sy

January 8, 2022

A (not so) New Year šŸ¤”

Hey friend,

The start of the new year used to be something I always looked forward to—but this 2022, I didn’t feel that energy in me. I cleaned my desk, opened my new planners...but no. 🄲

How was your start of 2022?

Maybe it was the break being too short (or I may have snuck in some work in between...my bad), or the fact that I’ve been pushing myself too hard last 2021 and wanted to do last minute things to ā€œmake it countā€. Same energy as when you’re still writing down a full sentence when the teacher says ā€œpass your papersā€ in class.

It’s Capricorn season, and it’s also my birthday in six days (honestly, not very excited, lol), but I’m still stuck working on setting up the year. 😐 I know new year’s are supposed to be ā€œnew beginningsā€ and ā€œfresh startsā€, but the older I get, my philosophy is more of don’t force it and just show up when you can.

Anyway, one thing I did end up doing was putting together a little vision board for 2022.

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I used to do this analog style, but I figured Procreate was the best option as I knew what I wanted this year to be about — my 2 words are Ease and Align (I spent some time answering Find Your Word over the holiday break). I’ve been glued to work last year and all I want this year is to do more meaningful work that aligns with my life and goals, and ease my way into the difficult chapters that are yet to unfold. Kermit in a blanket is the ultimate life goal though 🐸

Always Be Creating: January 2022 Prompts šŸ“”


As it’s the new year, and I’m sure you’ve been waiting for this, here are prompts to start your year:

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Every month I’ll be sharing this with you, but you can find more deets over at our community page, @alwaysbecreating.art šŸŽØ

Initially we called these challenges, but life’s too hard for too many challenges 🤪 I figured just putting in ā€œpromptsā€ would suffice. Our official hashtags are #ABCArtPrompts and #AlwaysBeCreatingArt — and yes, they don’t have to be journal pages only. Explore your creativity when you can!

Media Recap + Life Things šŸ’«


  • Albeit I’m a few days late, I started getting back to yoga again and doing Yoga with Adriene’s MOVE. It’s been great šŸ§˜šŸ»ā€ā™€ļø 
  • My biggest flex throughout the holiday break was watching Schitt’s Creek, and as of this writing, I’m (sadly) on Season 6. I’m pretty sure this will be a mainstay in my rewatch list. It took me 3 attempts to get through the first season, but it was well worth it! (Please watch it on Netflix if you haven’t)
  • Went back to the studio yesterday to work on shop stuff (lots of it). But yay for getting things started; later my mom and I are heading back to do more packing before my weekend starts officially tomorrow.
  • Randomly discovered a new food hack: adding peanut butter to Shin Ramyun šŸœ I was cooking late lunch and added a few dumplings, but since my acidic stomach can’t take spice as much anymore (IKR, sad), I decided to add a spoonful of creamy peanut butter and it tasted just like Tan Tan Men. Nomz

From organizing files to setting up and updating Notion pages, you best believe I’m still working on setting up for 2022. Hopefully I’ll finish in a week or so. One of my weekend plans is to set up a new journal and calibrate a new photo printer, so I hope that gets done. But if it doesn’t, then...more sleep time for me šŸ˜‚

I hope you have a great rest of the weekend. What’s on your agenda? (If it’s resting, I support it šŸ’Æ)

And please stay safe šŸ™šŸ¼

Abbey Sy
artist & author
abbeysy.com | @abbeysy

PS:

My website link up top won’t be live until the 14th, my birthday šŸŽ‚

My new book The Art of the Travel Journal šŸŒŽ is now available for preorder — I’ll share more about that in the next letter!

If you’d like to join us for monthly journaling hangouts or access digital printables or podcast episodes, consider joining our art club šŸ‘‹šŸ¼

PPS:

I’m still easing (ha!) myself into using HEY World. I hope you find everything in order! Although I wish there was a way you could reply to me šŸ˜” if that doesn’t suffice then you can always just mention me @abbeysy on IG for the meantime. āœŒšŸ¼