In 2022, I’m combining lessons from the heart with some –cough cough – goals.
But I don’t like the word goals, so it’s a quest, a journey, a mission: that for which I am destined.
So how was May?

May’s Tarot Card
I did a tarot spread for the full year and May asked me to release resentments and negative self talk. The card was Goblins, and it also reminded me that fear is an illusion and that I can always choose love.
I’ve really been working on that negative self talk. Though “work” isn’t really the word, it’s more a practice. If I catch myself talking negatively about myself, I stop, and correct the words. This way, I am slowly ceasing to berate myself for just being alive. I am sure I will be working at this the rest of my life – and I hope you start working at this, too.
That negative self talk does so much harm. And as women, we’re absolutely conditioned to think that we’re not good enough just the way we are. I am definitely amazing just the way I am, and so are you – but the way we talk with ourselves only reinforces the messages we receive from television, movies, books, magazines, social media… it goes on and on.
I wrote more about shoulding all over yourself in February.
Write 250 Words A Day, 5 Days A Week
This didn’t happen, I don’t think it will, and I’m OK with that because I wrote 3570 words over last week. Hurrah! Read more about that in Big Secret Goal #1 below.
Revamp WordStorm Casserole Poetry Book
Not happening. I’ve got other things on my mind now.
Post Twice A Month On This Website
I made it – just barely. Squeaking by counts! There was the May Mission Update and a Big Secret Goal Reveal.
DeGoogle, deApple, deMicrosoft – embrace Linux!
Why? Because Google, Apple, and Microsoft all track your every move online and that’s wrong.
In May I continued to use my Linux machine for most everything. I still need to transfer files over from the old windows computer. Maybe I’ll get around to moving music this month?
- DeGoogling is much harder than I imagined: it’s everywhere and I use it for much more than email. I did stop using Google Calendar; I really, really like having a paper calendar so I can cross days off.
- DeAppling won’t happen until there is something other than Android as a truly viable option for me. Yes, there are some options out there that can run Linux like the Librem 5, but lead time is 52 weeks – yes, you heard that: lead time is ONE YEAR. I expect the market for Linux phones will improve in the coming years and when it does, I’ll be jumping aboard.
- DeMicrosofting is as good as it’s going to get for now; I use LibreOffice with no major issues; it is free and is a viable replacement for Microsoft Office including Word, Excel, etc. I still have a Hotmail (now Outlook) account; it’s the first email account I had, and I’m kinda attached. I use it as a ‘junk mail’ account when signing up for newsletters, websites, offers,
Have Fun
May really wanted to be warmer, but instead settled for being not so warm. At least it was warmer than April, and I got to wear shorts for the first time this year. I’m notoriously cold, so finally wearing shorts is awesome; as I write this, it’s June 5 and I’m going to be wearing a long sleeved shirt and long pants because it’s chilly and rainy.
- I watched the Central Michigan University graduation ceremony to see my sister receive her second outstanding teaching award. Congrats Leslie!
- I’m still enjoying HelloFresh, but suspect I’ll cancel or at the very least pull back on ordering as much every week once the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) starts up for the season. That should happen sometime in June and carry on for sixteen weeks of amazing veggies from a local organic farm. How many veggies? My weekly share typically covers my four-burner stove top!
- I did some genealogy work and updated the FindAGrave.com listings for some of my Wallace line. There was great-great grandfather Robert Wallace who brought the family from Canada to Cass City, Michigan (and was able to tie him to my great grandfather Alfred James Wallace, too.) Robert’s son William H. Wallace. My great-great-great grandfather and grandmother Thomas Wallace and Isabella Dickie Wallace. There was also Isabella D. Smallwood and her husband William and son Harold; Isabella’s mother (Mary Jane Wallace) was sister to Robert mentioned above – which makes her my 1st cousin three times removed. One of these days I may hire a genealogist working near Kilmarnock, Scotland to dig into further family history…or perhaps that can be a goal for 2023?
- My hair still has purple, fuchsia, and blue highlights: LOVE IT!
- I worked in my garden just a big, went to a couple thrift stores, and had two craniosacral massages, too.
Big Secret Goal #1: Finish the first draft of a novel
This is what that “write 250 words a day” goal was all about! Read more about how I came to this decision and hints at what the novel is about here. Every week for fourteen weeks, I have to hit my target number of words per week – 3,000. We’re in week one, and I sure did hit that target! Yeah me!!
Big Secret Goal #2
This goal involves hiring pros. I finally arranged to meet with the pros.
- It was fun to talk about the goal in depth, and to share the document I slaved over that is chocked full of ideas and measurements and colors and more.
- Now I’m in the “waiting for the pros to develop a design” phase. Then we’ll be in the “blend my vision with their design phase,” and then in the “I sure hope they can add this to their schedule” phase. And eventually we’ll get to installation and big reveal.
- I was hoping for spring (which is clearly not going to happen) and will be delighted if it’s fall.
- At least it will be done…and I can move on to other Big Secret Goals.
What I’m Reading
On GoodReads, I have a 2022 Reading Challenge goal of at least 50 books. Since the last update I’ve read:
- Galileo’s Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson
- Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simson
- The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom
- I’ve read 21 books so far this year, which puts me 42% of the way to that mission of 50 books in 2022.
How About You?
How was your May? What big dreams and projects are you working on for this year?
That’s great Julie! Kudos on your honesty and being loving and compassionate with yourself as you move forward with goals!! It’s not about the end result. It’s about the journey and how you are feeling as you journey forward. I’m focused on being one of the most spunkiest, inspirational, happy aging woman dancing every weekend, working on my land, and doing QiGong, meditation, PT daily to have that happen. Hugs, Daina