Hi Mom! I'm starting a blog.

I’m usually not into this whole New Year’s resolution thing. After years of trying and failing to stick to promises of keeping my room clean or eating healthier or thinking more positively, I’ve learned that I am much happier when I don’t set myself up for failure. If I never set goals for myself, I’ll never fail to reach them, right?

But the thing is, I’m twenty years old now. I am TWO DECADES OLD. A FIFTH OF MY LIFE IS OVER. I keep having to do the math in my head to make sure that this is actually happening. I would just ask my mom, but she was so loopy on the epidural when I was born that she can never remember what year it was and never really knows for sure how old I am now either.

Twenty. That means that I kind of have to get my life together and start setting goals and accomplishing things because I can’t fall back on the excuse of being a stupid teen anymore.

So the one resolution I am making this year is this: start a blog.

I know what you’re thinking: Hannah you have anxiety. There is no way you’re going to commit to writing something good EVERY SINGLE WEEK FOR THE REST OF EVER. Stop while you’re ahead. Also: What do you think you’re going to write about? The most exciting thing that happens to you in a week is scrounging up enough time in between school and homework to binge Gilmore Girls. Alone. (Unless you count the three cartons of Ben and Jerry’s in the fridge as company.)

Oh wait, never mind. That’s what I’m thinking. You’re probably thinking: Wow, I’m so excited for you! This will be a really cool experience, Hannah. Because in reality, if you’re taking the time to read this far, you must care about me on some level and would never say mean things about my blogging aspirations (to my face). I’m not famous enough for my website to pop up within the first ten pages of a google search, so if you’ve gotten this far, you’re either my mom (hi mom!), a friend of my mom, or some stranger who made the mistake of asking me what kind of art I do. (If you’re one of those people, thanks for actually taking the time to check my site out!)

So why would I do this to myself despite all the aforementioned anxiety? If I’m being honest, my main motivation is that I’ve secured an internship with an art conservator in Portland and in order to get school credit for it, my professor wants me to blog about it. But also, the stars are really just aligning for me right now. I have so many exciting things planned for the next two years and I want to share it all with you and document it to look back on in the future.

I am terrified to commit to this, but sometimes necessity is just the push you need to do truly great things. So here I am, taking the new year by storm and running with it. And I hope you do too.