A Novel Quest: A 2012 Monique Recap

December 29, 2012

A Novel Quest: A 2012 Monique Recap

Reading back on my first blog post of 2012, I noticed how very excited I was about this year. 2011 was without question one of the most depressing years of my life, and by the tail end of it, I realized I wanted to give myself another shot at being happy, at overcoming all of the soul ripping muck that made me feel dirty, stupid, young, and lost.

The greatest part about that first post of 2012, was that even 12 months later…I am still very excited! I have not lost that enthusiastic and hopeful outlook for the future. I did mostly everything I said I was going to do at the beginning of the year, and while 2012 had its own set of pitfalls and setbacks, they weren’t enough to bring me to my knees. They have given me considerable reason to slouch on numerous occasions, however.

I’d like to summarize 2012 in four words: struggle, accomplishment, failure, and love.

Struggle: From the very beginning, I have struggled to find direction with this blog. In fact, I started it because I couldn’t find direction in my life. I must have decided “what I wanted to do with my life” three times this year. Consequently, I changed the direction of this blog at least three times this year as well. Not to mention countless design changes, haha.

I struggled with the GMAT. I struggled with training for my half-marathons. I struggled with not having my dad for another year. I struggled with my sister going through a tough time at a distant college, and I struggled with my personal relationships. I strugga-lug-lugged with the rest of humanity, and in 2013 we’re gonna do it again.

Accomplishment: Then comes the accomplishments! My favorite! Two half-marathons, a decent score on the GMAT, recognition at a poetry reading for my writing, consistent posting on this mother fucker, sharing my poetry with the world at a reading, a small promotion, an amazing bonus, a fuckload of followers on Twitter, and my submissions to business school will be complete in a couple of weeks! I’ve come a long way, guys, I’ve come a long way.

Failure: I use this term loosely to describe the failed projects I started this year, and a few things I said I was going to do that I didn’t. Vlogging turned out to be short lived, but it was for lack of time. I spent it on other things, like the GMAT and running. I intend to get right back into it next year. My YourFiveThings project also never took off, and I never signed up for SMARTY, nor did I submit any of my writing, anywhere. I never joined improv, and I will probably never be a comedian (something for a short while this year I sort of wanted to be). The Shit Girls Say video never happened. I also got a HORRIBLE score on the GMAT the first time I took it. It deserves its own section on the notorious Fail Blog.

Love: I fell in it. And he loves me back.

That’s it for now. I wanted to reflect. The “Best of 2012” list is still on! I’m going to try and get it posted up by Sunday. It will be…happier.