January Writing Challenge 2021: 22

22. Pick a colour you’re currently wearing and write a letter to them as if they are a person. It doesn’t have to be beautiful or poetic, just write to them and let them know why you’re wearing them

Dear Blue,

You're classic, vintage, cool. You're comfortable and reliable. You're a daily part of my life. Or at least you were, before Covid. Now you're a little rarer these days, I wear you less. Hopefully this year you'll come back into my life on a regular basis. And you'll go back to being a basic, blue. Jeans.

January Writing Challenge 2021: 21

21. Your favourite piece of art and why

Hmm. Most art I think is...dumb. I'm drawn to art of ordinary things, like this painting I saw at the Whitney. It's called Pie Counter and it's by Wayne Thiebaud.

It's just a really nice painting of pie. It's very pleasant.

I also like Monet sometimes. It's pretty. 

I do like visiting museums and looking at art. I just think it's dumb sometimes. Except when it's pie.

January Writing Challenge 2021: 20

20. The things you were grateful for in 2020

Number one thing I was grateful for in 2020 is my husband Ben. We got married in 2020 and that was honestly just the beginning of a truly unforgettable first year of marriage. I definitely would not have survived quarantine without him. He took care of me, and was there when I was going crazy from work or being cooped up for too long. He put up with me when I got bored and had to bother my only other co-worker to distract myself from the work I had to do. Gave me unlimited cuddles. Loved me even when I was being the worst.

I was also grateful for healthy family and friends. My cat. Puzzles. Alcohol. Lots of alcohol. Being healthy myself. Moving to a bigger, nicer apartment now that we have to spend a much larger majority of our time in it. Taylor Swift. Loungewear. Warm socks. Did I say alcohol?

January Writing Challenge 2021: 15-19

Well the weekend really fucked with my writing challenge. Shit.

15. Your most unpopular opinion (bonus points for how controversial it is). Explain your reasoning behind it

Hmm I feel like I have a lot of these but it's hard to come up with something specific. I hate a lot of things that are popular or well reviewed/liked.

I hated the movie Snowpiercer. I though it was complete trash, and I left the movie theater upset that I watched it. I just didn't think it was a good movie, one thing happened after another that just upset me and I didn't enjoy watching it at all. 

I also extremely hated the movie Inherent Vice. I thought it was boring as fuck, I fell asleep in the theater twice and woke up upset that the movie wasn't over. It was just too hard to follow and nonsense. Chalk it up to me being not as "cultured" but fuck that movie it was trash.

I think lentils are a trash food and no one should eat them. They taste like shit usually and I don't care if you're vegetarian there are other legumes out there that don't taste like actual trash. I've only liked one lentil dish in my entire life, otherwise everything lentil-related I hate with a passion.

16. A review of where you live. Doesn’t matter if you live in the middle of nowhere or a bustling metropolis- each have their benefits and their downfalls. Give your opinions, the pros/cons and why you like/hate living there

I live in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. It's a great neighborhood to live overall. There are great restaurants and bars here, and I live in close enough proximity to Williamsburg that it's very accessible. People shit on the G train but I've lived in Greenpoint for over seven years and I never had very many complaints about the train. Yes it's a short train. It's not that big a deal. Yes it has some issues. So do all of the other trains. The MTA overall sucks. The G is on par with the other trains.

I think the thing I like the best though about Greenpoint is that it's got some great spots but it's also quiet. People don't venture as often up here, and I'm okay with it. Greenpoint can stay this hidden gem in New York for as long as people think it's too hard to get to. More great food, drinks, and businesses for me. 

17. Write about an emotion you’re feeling as if it’s detached from you. The happiness, grief or loneliness you’re feeling is suddenly sat across the room from you. What are they wearing? What do they look like? What are their mannerisms?

Exhaustion is sitting across from me. They are wearing head to toe gray sweats with the hood pulled all the way up. They've got bags under their eyes, and a paleness that comes with not getting enough sleep. Their lips are chapped. Their hair is greasy and unwashed. They are having trouble paying attention to anything, and are also having trouble staying upright. They just want to lie down. They don't want anyone talking to them, and when someone tries to they just answer with one syllable responses. Just let them go to bed please!

18. An analysis of your favourite film scene and why you love it so much. It doesn’t have to be super serious or beautiful, maybe you really like the marriage scene from Shrek. Really dig into it, like you’re a media student. What colours are there? How is the scene framed? Who’s in it? Read between the lines

Well my favorite movie of all time is Amélie, and almost every scene from that movie is beautifully done. You could freeze frame at any point in that film and it would be a beautiful, intentionally shot frame. 

I think one of my favorite scenes is near the beginning. It's the scene where the narrator is talking about all the simple pleasures Amélie enjoys in life, including dipping her hand in sacks of grain, cracking créme brulée with a spoon, and skipping stones at the St. Martin's Canal. The close-ups of the hand dipping in grain, the surface of the créme brulée and the sound of it being cracked. 

My favorite part of this scene is Amélie skipping stones because it starts with an overhead shot of the waterfall going into the canal and then pans all the way over to the other side of the waterfall, where Amélie is wearing a red dress and skipping stone after stone. The whole background is bathed in soft sunlight and greens of the trees and the canal, and Amélie is in the middle of the shot, standing out among the green dressed in red, as the camera pans down to the canal where it ends on a close-up of a stone is being skipped across the water. 

I think my other favorite scene of all time is from the 2001 classic that I used to watched repeatedly: The Princess Diaries. It's the scene where Mia and Michael are walking to school and flirting a bit because we all know they're catching feelings, when Lily, Michael's sister comes running down the sidewalk after them, screaming for them to wait for her. As she's running, someone turns around as she's screaming "Wait!" and in a perfect moment of comedic timing, she screams back at the extra "No not you I don't even know you!" It's such a well timed delivery of that line and performance by Heather Matarazzo that I laugh out loud every time. Such a great scene. Most scenes in The Princess Diaries are great. What a great fucking movie. Is this an analysis?

19. Write a short story or article based on the last text or WhatsApp message you sent. Doesn’t matter if it’s as mundane as “yeee”- maybe you’re a lone adventurer walking along desolate streets screaming ‘yeee’ as you go. How would people react to you? Why are you screaming it? What has led you to where you are?

Last text: "I think you can follow it"

"I think you can follow it," I said, as the black and white cat jumped onto our downstairs neighbor's fence and nimbly scampered across it like a tightrope walker performing their circus routine. We watched as the cat hopped off the fence and into the next yard, walking through the overgrown weeds in circles before settling down in a patch of sun. He joined the rest of the cats who liked to traverse between the yards that spread out behind our building. And then the musical Cats started THE END 

January Writing Challenge 2021: 14

 Ahhh I forgot to do yesterday's prompt! Here it is for good measure. Dammit.

14. You wake up and realise that in a Metamorphosis-style twist of fate, you’ve turned into Jeff Bezos. You’ve got £136b ($182b) to splash- how do you spend it?

The first thing I do is pay any outstanding debts my family has, likely car payments, some stuff from both me and my brother's college tuition, my brother's pharmacy school, and any other bills. Then I set my family up so that my mom can retire. Probably buy my parents a new house or remodel parts of our current house that are old. See how we can help family in the Philippines. Set up Ben's family so that they are doing well also. 

Then I think Ben and I would buy a house ourselves somewhere. Being that rich would probably mean we could have multiple residences, so I feel like we'd likely have one here in Brooklyn, and one in Houston or Austin. Maybe both. Oh, and then I'd hire a financial advisor because there's no way in hell we would know what else to do with that amount of money. Probably have investments or some shit.

After all our families are set, I'd use the rest to travel to all the places I've always wanted to go, and then find some causes to support that mean a lot to me. Maybe something in the Philippines, maybe something to do with food sustainability. Or the environment. Etc. I dunno that amount of money is unfathomable to me, so honestly I would probably have no idea what else to do with it. 

January Writing Challenge 2021: 13

 I forgot to publish #12 yesterday and I'm writing #13 after midnight, so it looks like I did three on the 14th, but I promise I'm doing them on time!

13. A recurring dream, or your most memorable dream, and what you think it says about you

Here's the thing, I rarely remember my dreams. The last memorable one I had fairly recently was one where my mom made us have another wedding but for the Philippines, but I didn't tell anyone I knew except for the Filipinos, and I forgot to re-book all my vendors because I somehow thought they would just show up and do the same thing they did the first time. When I realized I didn't have any hair or makeup people coming, Sharon offered to do it for me. And when my mom got mad at me for forgetting to book any vendors for our second wedding, I asked her "Why are we having another wedding anyway?!" And she shouted back "FOR THE FILIPINOS!"

To be honest I have no idea what this means or what it says about me. Maybe that I have our wedding top of mind because our one year anniversary is coming up, or maybe it means I feel bad that none of my family from the Philippines was able to come here for our wedding because their visas weren't approved. Maybe it's something about my relationship with my mother? I'm bad at interpreting my own dreams.

January Writing Challenge 2021: 12

12. Someone comes into your house, puts a gun to your head and tells you that you must move to another country. You can go anywhere, it’ll last for five years and all of your living costs will be taken care of. Where do you move? Why?

My first inclination is to choose somewhere like France, but I think I would choose the Philippines. If all living costs will be taken care of, I would spend time with my extended family, and travel around the various islands and places I have and haven't been before. 

I'd spend time learning the language finally, which is something I've been half trying to do for years now. And of course I would eat the food, make the food, learn about the food. Learn about the culture and where I'm from. 

I also think that living in the Philippines would give me a lot of perspective on how my parents grew up and how much they sacrificed and did for me and my brother in moving to the US. It would give me an opportunity to make a much deeper connection with my roots in many different ways.

PLUS, I'd be closer to Asia so I'd get to travel all over the continent and live out my J-girl/K-pop fever dreams. 

January Writing Challenge 2021: 11

11. A book you think everyone should read and why

Normally my recommendation would be the Harry Potter series due to its immense impact on shaping who I am as a human being today, but due to JK Rowling's extremely problematic views I will recommend a different book. So I am going to say recommend one of my all-time favorite books as one that everyone should read: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

Pride and Prejudice is probably one of the OG romance books, but man is it so much more than that. The main character Elizabeth Bennet is such a strong, independent, sassy, female heroine that I think really led the way for some of the strong literary female characters today. All of Jane Austen's characters are a FUCKING delight to read about. And OF COURSE Mr. Darcy. MR. FUCKING DARCY. I love him with all my heart, although I'm not going to lie that Colin Firth's portrayal in both the BBC adaptation and in Bridget Jones's Diary (a Pride and Prejudice remake, of course) heavily influenced how I picture Mr. Darcy in my head.

The banter, the wit, the characterizations, the descriptive but easy to read writing. This book is EVERYTHING. It's also a very digestible classic compared to others in my opinion, if you're looking for one to read. Obviously I am a Jane Austen stan and Pride and Prejudice is a classic that I think is the perfect book to start with if you're starting out with Austen, or with classics in general. READ THIS FUCKING BOOK.

January Writing Challenge 2021: 10

10. A TV series you think everyone should watch and why

Because we're still in the midst of a global pandemic, I'm going to go lighthearted with this one and say that Parks and Recreation is a series that everyone should watch. It is one of my favorite TV shows of all time, and is one I go back to repeatedly.

One could say that when it started it was riding the super successful coattails of the American version of The Office, by following the same documentary-style format, but it definitely grew into its own, especially after the first season. Following the ins and outs of local government in Pawnee Indiana was made entertaining and hilarious by an unforgettable cast of characters. I loved the weird quirks of the town and every person living in it, and it's fun to go back and watch some major names before they got big (dad bod Chris Pratt, I'm looking at you).

From Lil Sebastian to Snakejuice, there are endless jokes and quotable moments that I can think of, and it's just such a fun ray of sunshine in these dark times. Hell, even the reunion Zoom episode they did during Covid was amazing. Ugh I'm going to go rewatch the whole thing now.

January Writing Challenge 2021: 9

9. An issue you think needs far more attention, awareness and concern

I think people don't pay enough attention to the amount of food they waste on a daily basis. Food waste has such a negative impact on the environment, and I don't think people are really as aware of the amount that they throw away.

Being raised by Filipino immigrants, I was taught to never throw away food if I can help it, and never ever waste any food. I've brought this mindset into adulthood, and am more conscious of food waste than the average millennial my age. I cringe every time someone doesn't finish their meal at a restaurant and just leaves it there without taking it as leftovers. I am basically the leftover queen. 

I also try not to waste groceries, although I'm not as good at that as I'd like to be. A lot of our produce ends up rotting, which I feel very guilty about. It's something that I want to work on for sure. 

But yes, food waste is something that needs more attention, because it's such an easy thing to fix if you're just more aware of how much you are able to use and eat. And just take the damn leftovers. 

January Writing Challenge 2021: 8

8. Your #1 pet peeve of 2020. Why does it piss you off so much? Where did you see it most?

My #1 pet peeve of 2020 was people not wearing their masks over their mouth AND their nose. Like dude, you already have the mask on, just bring it the fuck up. It's not that hard. Why do it at all if you're going to do it ineffectively. It pissed me off for obvious reasons, I DO NOT WANT FUCKING COVID FROM YOU. Stop endangering other people and just bring your mask up like half an inch, and maybe just maybe we can get one step closer to being out of this hell we call the global pandemic. 

I saw it everywhere. Outside walking down the street, on the subway, at the grocery store. And I continue to see it in 2021, because people are just the worst. Americans are the worst. This country is the worst. We have to do better. Because if I can't go on my honeymoon this year, I will lose it. Anyway, this was a fun topic, ha. Hopefully tomorrow's prompt is a little more positive.

January Writing Challenge 2021: 7

7. A letter to tomorrow. What do you want to happen tomorrow and why? Do you think tomorrow is a nice person? What do you want to say to your destiny in a few hours?

Dear Tomorrow,

You're the last day of the work week so I'm looking forward to you, but only because after you're over it's the weekend. This whole week has been a crazy shit show, oh you know with the coup on our government that occurred yesterday. I don't even want to bring up the fact that it was my first week back at work after the holidays and it's been fucking insane and made me hate everything. 

I just want you to not give me any more fucking surprises, let me finish up the few things I have on my plate work-wise, so I can get past you and lay down on my couch watching New Girl and drinking. I don't expect you to be nice to me Tomorrow, because you probably will give me even more work to do and it's very likely I will get overwhelmed again and cry. But I just want to get through you Tomorrow, so that I can get to the day after you. I just want to get you over with because I need the two day break from this year already. 

Fuck you very much,
Jo

January Writing Challenge 2021: 6

6. What does love feel like to you? When have you felt it?

This is a very heavy question, and is hard to articulate for me but I am going to try.

Love feels like comfort. It feels like care, and honesty, and openness. It feels like cuddles and hugs and kisses. It feels like a home cooked meal, and being able to sit in comfortable silence together. It feels like deep conversations, and casual small talks. It feels like warmth. I know some people think that love feels scary, but I never felt that way. To me love feels sure. It feels solid. 

I feel it every time someone cooks for me. Every time I eat a home cooked Filipino meal from my parents. Every time my husband warms my cold hands or feet for me in the winter. I feel it every time I rub my fat cat's squishy belly. I feel it every time I kiss my husband. Every time I share an inside joke with friends, a meme text, a funny selfie. I feel it every time I get a phone call from someone I haven't talked to in a while, every time I get mail from a friend, and every time my husband reluctantly lets me hold his hand in public because he hates PDA. 

I felt love in abundance in this past year despite being apart from most of the people I love. Hopeful that I'm able to feel more and more love in 2021.

January Writing Challenge 2021: 1-5

I'm starting this writing challenge late, so I'm about to bang out five prompts in one day. This is going to be a long one.

1. Ten songs that made your 2020 and why- alternatively, you can write about an album that made your 2020 if it’s easier

If I'm being honest, I didn't really listen to a ton of music this year. I mostly let the Spotify algorithm guide my musical journey in 2020. But there were a few standouts for me I think.

1. "Texas Sun" // Khruangbin & Leon Bridges
Ben and I got married in February 2020, right before Covid hit and we could still see each other and breathe on each other and be around each other. This was our first dance song. Listening to it now not only reminds me of our love, our marriage, and our wedding, but also of the last time I saw the majority of our family and friends before lockdown. I'm so thankful that we got to celebrate and be together before the whole world went to shit.

2. The New Abnormal // The Strokes
This one is an entire album, and it came out in the middle of this shit show year in April. This one is important for a number of reasons. One, it's the first album in several years that The Strokes have released, and they have been my favorite band since I was 15 years old. Listening to this whole album felt like hanging out with an old friend, it brought back so many memories of going to shows and blasting this from the car radio while driving my parents' Toyota Corolla in high school. But it also felt like something new from a band that's grown over the years. That along with the fact that I spent New Year's Eve 2020 seeing them at Barclays, which I believe was my first and last concert of 2020, made this album especially meaningful to me this year.

3."Wait For It" // Leslie Odom Jr. + the cast of Hamilton
I'm honestly tempted to include the entire Hamilton album here as well, but this is my favorite and most played song from it. I had never seen the show, but when it came out on Disney+ Ben and I became fairly obsessed with it, rewatching the show and listening to the music for probably a month after we saw the show the first time. This was also around the time that we moved apartments after being in our first one together for seven years, and I have a very distinct memory from July of eating Chinese takeout and watching Hamilton in our old empty apartment because our new one didn't have internet yet.

4. "Black Swan" // BTS
I have always been a casual fan of K-pop, but this is the song and video that got me really into BTS and K-pop music. I thought the song was pretty different from the previous K-pop music I had previously listened to, and I was an especially big fan of the first music video that came out, which was an "art film" that featured an interpretive dance troupe. This also led me to spend the rest of 2020 trying to figure out which member of BTS was which (I have about half the group figured out).

5. "Me Rehúso" // Danny Ocean
I first heard this song while working on the outside patio of my DUMBO, Brooklyn office on a beautiful sunny day, emanating from a coworker's "Reggaeton" playlist on his laptop. When I was putting the playlist together for my Tulum bachelorette party in January, this song was at the top of it. It's a catchy, fun, addicting tune that reminds me of dancing poolside in a bikini, drunk off margaritas and Moet, with all my best girl friends. 

6. Future Nostalgia // Dua Lipa
Another whole album, because I couldn't pick just one song. This came out one to two weeks after lockdown and was on repeat for a while, because the electro pop beats and synths were fun, upbeat, and a little nostalgic of past pop hits. Had many one person dance parties in my living room to this album.

7. "Simply The Best" // Noah Reid (from Schitt's Creek)
I watched the entire Schitt's Creek series during peak quarantine time, and fell in love with every character and the entire world that Dan and Eugene Levy created. Obviously the moment that Noah Reid's character Patrick sang this to David had me in TEARS and I stan those two as a couple so hard so of course I listened to this song A LOT. Also Schitt's Creek swept the Golden Globes, which was pretty memorable.

8. "WAP" // Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion 
Obviously because this song is a fucking banger and if clubs and bars were open this would be on all the time and I would get so tired of it.

9. "exile" // Taylor Swift ft. Bon Iver 
Both of Taylor Swift's cottagecore albums were fucking great and got me through the second half of the year, peak T Swift and peak cottagecore. Her songs with Bon Iver are my favorite because obviously I love him.

10. "You Are The Sunshine of My Life" // Stevie Wonder
The first nine songs/albums that made my 2020 came to me really easily but I had a little trouble coming up with the last one. I decided to go with the song my dad and I did our father daughter dance to at my wedding. The only reason it's on my Spotify Top 2020 Songs is because we practiced our cha cha so many times in the one week leading to the wedding, and I'm still impressed that we managed to perform it fairly well considering my dad just made it up in a week!

2. Your first memory and what you think it says about you
My first memory was when I was 3 years old and my brother was about to be born. My mom went into labor and my parents had to leave me with my dad's cousin, Tita Esther. I remember I really did not want to be left there and I freaked out and cried about it. This being such a gigantic change in my life, it makes sense that this would be a distinct memory, since nothing was ever the same after Glenn was born. 

I'm not entirely sure what this says about me. Maybe the trauma of no longer being an only child was so severe that I could never forget it? Ha just kidding I love my brother.

3. Something the horrors of 2020 taught you

The horrors of 2020 taught me how to cook more dishes. Use my Instant Pot more. Appreciate the beauty of a nice kitchen appliance. And a really well made cup of coffee. And that I probably would not survive alone without Ben because he takes really good care of me. The horrors of 2020 also taught me to really appreciate all my friends and family and never take for granted the time spent with them, if I want to get really sappy about it.

4. You’re in total control of the world for a year and can decide what to do, irrespective of the cost or any political woes that may arise. What things are you going to implement? Why?
I would ensure that we have the resources and infrastructure to give everyone the Covid vaccine in the next month. Give funding to small businesses in trouble and stimulus checks to those who need it. I would enact environmental reforms worldwide so we don't burn the whole damn world down when we're allowed back in it. I would enact worldwide anti-discrimination laws. 

5. A popular TV show you don’t like and why. Make it as controversial as possible, for funzies and explain fully what made you dislike it.
I didn't finish either Game of Thrones or Breaking Bad. Game of Thrones I stopped mid-3rd season, and Breaking Bad I stopped at the beginning of the second season. I got bored okay?!? I just didn't feel like finishing either one, neither didn't really captivate me enough to go back and finish.

2021

 It's been eight years since I've written anything in this blog, and I've decided to take on a writing challenge five days into the new year. I couldn't think of anywhere else to put this, so I thought I'd use my previously defunct blog to dump it all in. I got this January writing challenge from someone's medium site. Well, here goes.

1. Ten songs that made your 2020 and why- alternatively, you can write about an album that made your 2020 if it’s easier
2. Your first memory and what you think it says about you
3. Something the horrors of 2020 taught you
4. You’re in total control of the world for a year and can decide what to do, irrespective of the cost or any political woes that may arise. What things are you going to implement? Why?
5. A popular TV show you don’t like and why. Make it as controversial as possible, for funzies and explain fully what made you dislike it.
6. What does love feel like to you? When have you felt it?
7. A letter to tomorrow. What do you want to happen tomorrow and why? Do you think tomorrow is a nice person? What do you want to say to your destiny in a few hours?
8. Your #1 pet peeve of 2020. Why does it piss you off so much? Where did you see it most?
9. An issue you think needs far more attention, awareness and concern
10. A TV series you think everyone should watch and why
11. A book you think everyone should read and why
12. Someone comes into your house, puts a gun to your head and tells you that you must move to another country. You can go anywhere, it’ll last for five years and all of your living costs will be taken care of. Where do you move? Why?
13. A recurring dream, or your most memorable dream, and what you think it says about you
14. You wake up and realise that in a Metamorphosis-style twist of fate, you’ve turned into Jeff Bezos. You’ve got £136b ($182b) to splash- how do you spend it?
15. Your most unpopular opinion (bonus points for how controversial it is). Explain your reasoning behind it
16. A review of where you live. Doesn’t matter if you live in the middle of nowhere or a bustling metropolis- each have their benefits and their downfalls. Give your opinions, the pros/cons and why you like/hate living there
17. Write about an emotion you’re feeling as if it’s detached from you. The happiness, grief or loneliness you’re feeling is suddenly sat across the room from you. What are they wearing? What do they look like? What are their mannerisms?
18. An analysis of your favourite film scene and why you love it so much. It doesn’t have to be super serious or beautiful, maybe you really like the marriage scene from Shrek. Really dig into it, like you’re a media student. What colours are there? How is the scene framed? Who’s in it? Read between the lines
19. Write a short story or article based on the last text or WhatsApp message you sent. Doesn’t matter if it’s as mundane as “yeee”- maybe you’re a lone adventurer walking along desolate streets screaming ‘yeee’ as you go. How would people react to you? Why are you screaming it? What has led you to where you are?
20. The things you were grateful for in 2020
21. Your favourite piece of art and why
22. Pick a colour you’re currently wearing and write a letter to them as if they are a person. It doesn’t have to be beautiful or poetic, just write to them and let you know why you’re wearing them
23. A social media trend you detest with every atom of your being and why
24. Go out, look at the surroundings of where you live and describe them like you’re a poet in love. Not all of us can live next to verdant, rolling hills with watery blues marking the sky- try and describe the bins outside of your house in the most gracefully ridiculous way possible
25. Analyse a common saying that has never made any sense to you
26. Write about a tradition in your culture and why you love/hate it so much. This also doesn’t have to be super serious, I’d probably write about Britain’s extreme love of pubs
27. Invent a few sayings you think should be common and explain why
28. Three things you wish you knew/understood at the age of ten
29. Look in the mirror and describe yourself like an author would describe you. As hard as it is, try to be objective- you may slowly gain an appreciation for features you’ve never liked
30. Write about an injustice that boils your blood. Doesn’t have to be super serious- for me, I’d probably write about my dislike of Thomas Edison in how he stole several inventions from Nikola Tesla
31. What you’ve learnt during January and any goals you may have for February 2021