Liz Cultivates | L.M. Fern

Here we are, gang. Almost the end of the year, and I didn’t forget to do the monthly review this time!

November has been a mildly chaotic time (unsurprising for this time of year, especially for us) with some ups, some downs, and some pretty even-keeled times as well. Wow, how boring! The boring life is my absolute dream, though. There was plenty of rest and lots of family time, and plans for the end of the year are solidifying, slowly but surely. Holiday parties, quiet reading dates, video games, mezcal mules, and cozy crochet projects.

This one is short, because I will have a longer piece to round out the year.

Writing: New quests, old goals

I’ve started logging achievements in The Hero’s Journal, thanks to my friend Sofia of Uncultured Palate. She mentioned it a couple of weeks ago when we were talking about goals and things we want to achieve for our respective businesses. I don’t know that I would call myself a goal-oriented person, but I do love to make a list of little tasks and mark them done. It makes me feel all the warm fuzzies.

The way The Hero’s Journal works is you choose a central goal to focus on for the next three months, and then every day, you do a little bit of journaling in service to that goal. Ideally, you start in the morning, and mark down a few goals you’d like to get done that day that would get you closer to achieving your overall “quest.” You (or “Yew,” as the character in the story is called) are given resources and tasks. Every seven days, you check in and “level up” by selecting the skills you worked on in the last week. The art in the pages is really cute.

So far, I’ve filled out ten days of those three months. It’s helping me prioritize what I want to get done in any given day. So far, I enjoy it! Highly recommend to check it out.

Reading: I started Dungeon Crawler Carl!

Okay, I don’t have much to say about this yet, because I just started it. I borrowed a copy from my best friends and so far… it’s really enjoyable. (Notably, my mom read it this summer and loved it!)

Gardening: Good-bye to the summer season

I planted some garlic a couple weeks ago and my carrots are still growing (though this week’s snow may have stymied that effort). I made an effort to mulch with fallen leaves this year. My strawberry was unable to tell that it was supposed to be hibernating. But mostly, this month, I made an effort to be grateful that I have the space that I do — and cultivate excitement for next growing season. I have so much to be thankful for!

That’s all for this month. We’ll see what we have in store for the new year!