This Is 2013.

Hello 2013.  I do hope you are kind to me.  I think you will be a lot kinder to me if I put a bit of effort in too - it's all about the give and take.  I am not going to be making New Year Resolutions per se, more things I would like to focus on in 2013.

DRIVING.

I am going to learn to drive this year.  I am hoping to have started lessons by the end of January.  For the first time ever I feel like driving is really something that is missing from my life and that it's something that will really benefit me.

FILMS.

I am notoriously bad for watching films.  I can sometimes really struggle to concentrate for that long and find myself so easily distracted.  That said, I have definitely got better over the years and now actually find myself getting really engrossed in a film.  I caught An American In Paris on telly over Christmas and fell in love.  I have never really watched a film like it and never seen Gene Kelly in a film.  I know, it's madness.  I have only seen about 10% of the Disney films and name some classics and I can guarantee most of them would be greeted with a blank face. (Studio Ghibli is a different story...)

My dad and brother are both into their films and love getting into the nitty gritty, reading up about them on IMDB and then giving me a full breakdown afterwards.  I want to be able to join them in enjoying films.  My fiancé also really enjoys films and has a list as long a his arm of sci-fi films he wants me to watch.  It was only in the last few years I watched Lord of the Rings and Star Wars.  Both of which are now firm favourites.  Again, that was years of my fiancé asking me to watch them and me always having an excuse to avoid them.  Lord of the Rings in particular I wish I had watched sooner.  So, in 2013 I am going to vow to watch more films.  I am going to take an interest in a wide variety of films and am going to create a page here on this blog of the latest films I have watched.  Something for me to look back on at the end of the year and see what I've achieved.

BIRDS.

Since taking bird watching up as a proper hobby in 2010, including taking field notes and doing yearly lists I have managed to get my year list a little bit longer each subsequent year.  Not bad considering I am quite limited by the fact I cannot drive... yet.  I was gifted a wonderful new pair of very decent binoculars from Ben, a million times better than anything I have ever owned before and they have allowed bird watching to become an even more enjoyable hobby.  I hope to see even more in 2013 and I want to get to know my local patch a bit better.  I live close to a canal that has allowed me to have some really wonderful birding moments.  I need to make time to go out more, me, my binoculars and my notebook. 

LIVE MUSIC.

The amount of live music I have been to see over the years has dwindled.  I used to average a band a week while living in London and before that weekends were often about going to see a friend's band.  Now, I am lucky if I see a band every few months.  I want to make an effort to go and see more live music.  Be it friends' bands, local artists or big bands.  I already have plans to be going to 2000 Trees festival this year and am going to make a conscious effort to see more live bands in and and out of Gloucestershire.

BEING REBECCA.

I have never been one to conform,  I am great believer in people being who they want to be and I am not one to judge.  That said, I don't always do what I want to do and live how I want to live.  I'd say this is 60% through lack of effort, 30% because of a lack of confidence and 10% because as far as I know they haven't discovered how to turn humans into cats.  This year I want to take time to discover who I really am (I know it sounds cheesy but, it's true) and live how I want to live.  To feel happy and most of all have a feeling of fulfilment.  Sometimes feeling inspired isn't enough, I often feel inspired but usually let it fizzle away without actually doing anything with it.  I want to spend 2013 discovering more about myself and allowing myself to gain more knowledge, life experiences and just live life being who I want to be.