Welcome to 2018.
It’s taken a while to get here, but get here we have – and a happy new year to you and all. Have you made your resolutions yet? Are they already broken?
The new year was ushered in watching The Trip To Spain, in our new home, surrounded by cheese, crackers, a tin or two of Pringles, dips, more chips, prosecco and the rest. A quiet affair, but when you’re only a few weeks in the door of your new – and own – home, you do things your own way.
2017 was a pretty good year in fairness. As with the rest of the human race, there’s plenty of downs to go with the ups, but the high note had to be picking up the keys to our own house.
After years renting and what felt like years looking around (albeit casually), 2017 was the year to get serious about house hunting and serious we were. Cut to the October bank holiday weekend and the keys were in the hand. Flash forward a few weeks later and we’re entertaining family and friends over the Christmas period.
New rooms, new colours, new feelings.
New kitchen, new light, new angles.
New drive.
And what of resolutions?
Pringles and prosecco on the table, New Years Eve conversation turned “let’s not call them resolutions, but what would you like to do in 2018, for yourself” – the usual for this time of year.
Yes, I want to continue down the martial arts path. Yes, I want to clock up some serious miles on the bike this year. However, one thing I’m really looking forward to in 2018 is immersing myself further back into blogging about food.
One of the moves (before THE move) in 2017 was to rekindle the food blog, transition Any Given Food to Ken On Food and get back in the kitchen. I made it one of my resolutions for 2017 and sure, it took me about 10 months to get there after what felt like a very quiet two years or so, but I did.
In doing that kind of thing you can think “should I go this way”, “should I go that way”, “do I change my approach”, “what are these folks over here doing”. You ask a lot of questions, make promises to yourself, draw up plans and procedures, but when you start looking over the fence on every side of you, it can all become a bit too much.
One of the links thrown up over the Christmas Facebook grazing came from Caitriona Redmond in the Irish Food Bloggers Group on Facebook with some sage advice on the one new year’s resolution every food blogger should make courtesy of Food Bloggers of Canada.
And it all boils down to four words – stay your own course.
It’s a short read from 2016 about making 2017 the year for you, but regardless of the calendar, it does make for sage advice and is very much my mantra here for 2018. Blog more, blog often, blog my own course. Or in your case, if you’re reading this as a food blogger – it’s about blogging YOUR own course. YOUR own way.
Those plans, ideas, photos, videos, procedures, recipes, guides, how-tos, reviews, restaurant write-ups, competitions, everything will get its day in the sun once you’re doing it your own way.
2018 begins on day one and it’s one day at a time from here onwards. Here’s to whatever it brings!
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