Roll on 2015
Soooo...my blogging situation seems to be dwindling somewhat and I can't decide if I've got nothing to say, or everything to say.
This year has started on a better foot than the last. Looming over the start to 2014 was the forthcoming funeral of a close friend. This New Years I spent in the company of my bestest and closest friends with the news that there will be two weddings and two births to celebrate...oh and my third graduation. Hooray!
And with a New Year there comes the resolutions
I don't know about you but I have 'goals', things I want to do, that are longer running than just a year. In the first six months of living in Pescara I declared I had three 'Ongoing Goals'. One was related to learning Italian, one work related and one based on a 'hobby'. Turns out I've only got one more goal to achieve...the hobby one.
This, I fear, is going to be the most difficult of them all. Learning Italian has been time consuming, but useful for both work and leisure and I can safely say that I've exceeded even my own expectations of reaching an Upper-Intermediate level since arriving in Pescara in August 2011. Completing the Masters was also ridiculously time consuming, including overnight essay writing and a lot of panic. However I know I bizarrely enjoyed the challenge and hope it will contribute significantly to my career prospects. A piano diploma however, now that is my Wall.
I love playing the piano BUT I also hate it, and I mean hate it. There are weeks when I don't play it, nor think about it. My piano teacher despairs, as all my previous ones have too, when I rock up to a lesson all smiles, only to announce that "nope, not practiced...not even touched a piano". Oh goody. Why is taking diploma in piano performance your resolution then Laura? I hear perhaps one of you ask.
You see, I'm not an exceptional pianist, never have been, but I want to be, I'm willing myself to be one, and so: I will be an exceptional pianist. And that's the issue: as a perfectionist, a 'Type A' personality, I can't not be good. I strive hard, really hard, to be good at everything, too much so, and that's why I ended up in Pescara in the first place. I do not recommend having a 'burn-out' at the age of 24.
Even though I'm currently building up my knowledge of how to be a Type B personality: realigning my 'warpy' thoughts, learning how to truly relax, and trying not to have so many heart palpitations, the ridiculously high expectations of myself lead me to this one last thing, getting my piano diploma. I'm going to have to be very careful.
So that's resolution no. 1: Take a piano diploma. It's hard to explain how this is so emotionally connected to everything I'm working on now so I'll save that for another day.
In comparison resolution no. 2 is easy peasy: pass at least B2 in Italian. As I managed to pass the last exam without frequenting the school weekly, the fact I'm attending 6 hours a week of Italian should hopefully help me. Even if this level is quite a bit tougher.
Then the third resolution seems a bit random but marks a turning point: double my salary. Simple. It's a turning point as it will signify the start of a new chapter. I will no longer be 'Pakes in Pescara' but somewhere else (hopefully). However it may mean returning to a more stressful work environment by reentering a different style of schooling to where I am now, in a much larger city. It Whatever happens after gaining a position that will double my salary will be the ultimate test for all the things I've been focusing on these past four years, mainly my Type A personality. Only time will tell if my lifestyle changes, over the past year in particular, have really made a difference.
And that's it fellow readers, my three resolutions for 2015.
What are yours?
This year has started on a better foot than the last. Looming over the start to 2014 was the forthcoming funeral of a close friend. This New Years I spent in the company of my bestest and closest friends with the news that there will be two weddings and two births to celebrate...oh and my third graduation. Hooray!
And with a New Year there comes the resolutions
I don't know about you but I have 'goals', things I want to do, that are longer running than just a year. In the first six months of living in Pescara I declared I had three 'Ongoing Goals'. One was related to learning Italian, one work related and one based on a 'hobby'. Turns out I've only got one more goal to achieve...the hobby one.
This, I fear, is going to be the most difficult of them all. Learning Italian has been time consuming, but useful for both work and leisure and I can safely say that I've exceeded even my own expectations of reaching an Upper-Intermediate level since arriving in Pescara in August 2011. Completing the Masters was also ridiculously time consuming, including overnight essay writing and a lot of panic. However I know I bizarrely enjoyed the challenge and hope it will contribute significantly to my career prospects. A piano diploma however, now that is my Wall.
I love playing the piano BUT I also hate it, and I mean hate it. There are weeks when I don't play it, nor think about it. My piano teacher despairs, as all my previous ones have too, when I rock up to a lesson all smiles, only to announce that "nope, not practiced...not even touched a piano". Oh goody. Why is taking diploma in piano performance your resolution then Laura? I hear perhaps one of you ask.
You see, I'm not an exceptional pianist, never have been, but I want to be, I'm willing myself to be one, and so: I will be an exceptional pianist. And that's the issue: as a perfectionist, a 'Type A' personality, I can't not be good. I strive hard, really hard, to be good at everything, too much so, and that's why I ended up in Pescara in the first place. I do not recommend having a 'burn-out' at the age of 24.
Even though I'm currently building up my knowledge of how to be a Type B personality: realigning my 'warpy' thoughts, learning how to truly relax, and trying not to have so many heart palpitations, the ridiculously high expectations of myself lead me to this one last thing, getting my piano diploma. I'm going to have to be very careful.
So that's resolution no. 1: Take a piano diploma. It's hard to explain how this is so emotionally connected to everything I'm working on now so I'll save that for another day.
In comparison resolution no. 2 is easy peasy: pass at least B2 in Italian. As I managed to pass the last exam without frequenting the school weekly, the fact I'm attending 6 hours a week of Italian should hopefully help me. Even if this level is quite a bit tougher.
Then the third resolution seems a bit random but marks a turning point: double my salary. Simple. It's a turning point as it will signify the start of a new chapter. I will no longer be 'Pakes in Pescara' but somewhere else (hopefully). However it may mean returning to a more stressful work environment by reentering a different style of schooling to where I am now, in a much larger city. It Whatever happens after gaining a position that will double my salary will be the ultimate test for all the things I've been focusing on these past four years, mainly my Type A personality. Only time will tell if my lifestyle changes, over the past year in particular, have really made a difference.
And that's it fellow readers, my three resolutions for 2015.
What are yours?
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