Best TV shows we’ve watched: The Devil’s Hour, Silo, Physical 100
Best films at the cinema: Wild Robot, Better Man, and Back to Black
Best streamed films: Puss in Boots The Last Wish, Kneecap
Best fiction books read: The Shadow Cabinet, The Maidens
Best non-fiction: 101 Essays to Change the Way You Think, Personality Isn’t Permanent, The Tao of Pooh
Best audiobook: Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
Favourite genre read: Dark Academia and Dark Lit
Number of books read: 52 (of which 19 were audiobooks)
Number of novels written: 2 (both finished at the end of the year, sept-dec)
Number of words written: >200,000 (110,000 written in the last 4 months on my two completed novels)
Number of park runs completed: 15 (started in August)
5km running stats: PB of 31:23 mins shaving off more than 5 minutes from previous times
Greatest achievements: Japan trip in May-June, 323 days of Japanese on Duolingo, completing two novel drafts at the end of the year
Favourite moments: singing a Japanese song in a Japanese Studio Ghibli store in Japan!
Visiting my sister for a sister day in spring, charity shop shopping, book shopping and coffee shop chatting
Watching Physical 100 with my husband and trying out the moves at home!
Greatest lessons: Check your expectations of yourself, situations/events, and others and what they expect of you (state and ask)
Careful of extremes – balance and strategy is important
Authenticity in my creativity, letting the characters speak, and not forcing it
I can only be me, don’t exhaust yourself thinking you have it worse than others
Careful with spending money on cheap, second hand things – it’s still wasted money if you didn’t need it!
What I’m leaving behind: Being afraid that people won’t like me/ people pleasing.
Fear that I can’t do hard things because I absolutely can and do!
What I’m embracing: Being on medication/asking for help
Did I achieve my 2024 intention of “play”? At the end of the year, somewhat, yes! But I need to bring it into 2025 for sure
S. R. Crawford 