Um, Hi, Hello there

My very first blog post... a historic moment, no doubt. I'm Ruth, by the way. I'm 17 and I live deep in the countryside, with absolutely nobody my age. This might be a good thing though - as Steven Wright once said, "hermits have no peer pressure", and the isolation limits the potential for my many faux pas to actually be seen by people.

I guess I want to start this to organise and motivate myself. I'm usually better at achieving my aims if I have told people about them first, and using a blog means I don't have to bother my family with my latest (and generally short-lived) crazes.

This year was the first time I didn't have any resolutions about losing weight or looking pretty or acting cool. I think I finally grew up last year - I realised I actually have all the important things I need life. So, my goals have become more specific.

• Do not buy any clothes for a year. (I started this in mid-January after reading this article, but I'm going soft-core and allowing myself to buy socks and underwear.)
• Itemise the clothes I already have in my wardrobe
• Participate in NaNoWriMo
• Write 5 decent short stories (one down, four to go...)
• Actually stick to keeping a diary (so far so good, though it may get harder with keeping this blog as well)
• Pull an all-nighter during the summer holidays (a silly, but important childhood dream that I really must fulfil)
• Get my Grade 8 Associated Board piano course finished before the end of the year.

That is about it for the moment, though I keep making new goals and crossing off old ones. I have a page in my diary where I write them all down, and I have already had the pleasure of ticking off finishing my grade 8 RIAM piano course, and reading my first Dickens novel (Great Expectations, in case you were wondering).

Now that the goals I make are more precise, I can actually hope to achieve them. I realise they are small-time aims, and playing piano or whatever isn't exactly going to change the world, but I think overtime they may change me. Forcing myself to do something with my life will have to make me into a better person, after all. And I like making goals and plans, anyway. Achieving them makes me happy, and this high causes me to create more goals, repeating the wonderful cycle, and as far as I can tell, there is nothing wrong with that. 

So, thanks for reading, and follow or comment me if you want to see how I progress on my missions. I hope to post as regularly as I can.