a letter to 2017.

I just spent four days with my closest friends sleeping in a shipping container house. Stargazing, making salads, snacks and *lots* of pasta. Surrounded by a vineyard and the sound of rain on the container roof, we talked, we laughed, we played board games and barely spent any time on technology, in fact I didn't check my Instagram once. And it felt great.
Although I love to take photos and connect with people over social media and blogging, sometimes there's nothing better than disconnecting, living in the moment and just being.

A lot of people have been focused on the bad things that happened in 2016 but instead I want to think more about the good, what's to come, what I'm going to work on and how I'll better myself and the earth that I walk on in the new year.
I guess these are my new years resolutions;
I want to focus more on myself and what makes me happy. Not in a selfish way but sometimes I forget to put myself first and I get so caught up in what other people are doing that I can lose sight of what I really love and the things that make me truly happy.
I want to seize new opportunities and not shy away from the things that challenge me. Last year I found myself falling back into a bubble of anxiety that was so hard to break when I started high school. I started saying no more than I would like and this year I want to do the opposite.
I want to appreciate the simple things. Things like meditating, walking, stargazing and music. Things that are so simple that I sometimes overlook them.
I want to be creative and inspired by the world around me. I love creating content for this blog or my Instagram and in 2016 I felt like I somewhat neglected these things that bring me so much happiness. This year I want to make my love for taking photos, videos and making art my priority.

I really feel like this is the year of self love and taking care of yourself, I was watching this video the other day and loved the quote that Nina used, "your reality is a reflection of your strongest beliefs." I really love the idea that we all have the power to create our own reality, negative or positive by the actions we take and the energy that we give off into the world. I also really loved this video by Cartia, who's one of my favourites as she talks about the importance of turning every situation, even negative into a positive learning experience which I'm really going to try and live by this year.

I guess I'm kind of having that start of year overwhelming feeling. We've just finished with 2016 and already it's time to start all over again and that's a little scary and a lot exciting. I plan to treat each day as a new page in the novel that is my life and I want my story to be full of fun and excitement, happiness, adventures and challenges. 365 new pages and I really can't wait!
What are you excited for this year?
Bella.

"2017 is the year of creativity, confidence and new beginnings.
It's the year of adventures, radical self love
and the year of me."
- a letter to 2017.