My 2019 Wrap Up
A couple of weeks ago I posted my 2019 favourites, mostly around media and products that I bought/used throughout the year. Looking back on the year though, they are never the things that stand out. What stands out is the personal highs, the amazing things that happened to those around me, the disappointment in personal relationships, the goals that were almost achieved, the work that was done. So here is that 2019 wrap up…
Highs
One of my ultimate highs of the year isn’t really even mine, but Michael getting a job that he really loves was definitely up there this year. I am sure most of you would know the feeling when you are so close to someone and you see all their hard work pay off and they get something they truly want and deserve. Not much tops it really. But because his high can’t be my only high for the year here are some others that are incredibly worthy of my 2019 wrap up.
Looking back on the year I also feel really proud of how much I pushed myself, especially in taking on a lot of photography & stying work. It isn’t something I am formally trained in so I had worked really hard this year to always be improving that skill.
From doing location shoots this year meant even though it was technically work I got to stay in some amazing homes & explore without having a big overseas trip. It also meant those work moments were shared which felt really special. Personally I think our first trip down to Cabarita early in the year stands out to me because we ended up getting good weather despite there being a cyclone the days before & there wasn’t a huge amount of work to be done so we got to make the most out of the pool. You can read the blogpost here
We had two weddings this year, one of my oldest childhood friend & secondly, my brother. Both weddings were such highlights of the year, both quite different but so perfect for each couple. Plus it meant I got another official sister. I will also be an offical aunt early in the new year to a baby girl which I am clearly stoked about but now my instagram keeps showing me really expensive wooden toys.
Lows
It is funny that I write down lows every month for my monthly journals but really when I look back over the year, hardly any of it matters or stands out to me still. But there are two things so let’s just go there. I felt I had a personal relationship with someone take 1 step forward and about 10 steps back which left me feeling pretty disappointed and frustrated. Trying to just accept it for what it is now though and moving on in time. Overall I think I definitely had some low points in the year where I was too inside my head, trying to please people that don’t know me personally. I am hoping I can reset this mindset in the new year.
Reflecting on goals I set this year
I was working as a full time freelancer before I left uni which means I am now 6 years deep. When working for yourself it can be really easy to jump at every opportunity, make the most out of every day you have, take on as much as humanly possible in the fear that it will all go away. But that isn’t sustainable. I can’t work 7 days a week & I didn’t want to put my work over everything else. This year it was really about working smarter and doing work that created the life I wanted to live. I wanted to shoot more which meant I wasn’t at a desk all day everyday, I wanted to shoot on location so I could go away every once in a while. I wanted my weekends and my work schedule flexible enough that I could take time off to go away for my friend’s wedding. I feel like if you’re working for yourself you better give yourself the perks of doing so.
Following on from that, this year we had no overseas trips planned so I really wanted to do a lot more smaller trips domestically. We ended up doing a few (mostly a little bit of work/play action) including The Calile, Cabarita Beach (twice), Maleny (twice), Canberra and a few beach trips as well. For me that is a goal ticked!
I set a financial goal at the start of the year which I wanted to hit by the end of the year. To be completely transparent I was very fortunate for my mum who had created shares in our name when I was a child and I got paid out for my share which meant I hit my goal early. That didn’t feel like reaching my goal though. To be honest I felt pretty guilty for reaching my goal that way and not through work. But I kept saving anyway. I wanted to see if I could have reached it still without that pay out. I got pretty damn close.
Favourite work from the year
My favourite on location shoot was definitely shooting The Daily Edited at The Calile. Not only did we get to stay there a couple of nights but I got to work with Michael on creating some travel content for The Daily Edited to use. It was a hectic few days but I have such fond memories of finishing up and then heading down to the pool for a swim and a margarita.
A new partnership that really was a highlight this year was working with Canberra Tourism on a 48 hr trip to Canberra. It is so rare for me to do tourism trips due to them normally having packed itineraries with little flexibility (aka not how I normally travel) This trip to Canberra could not have been further from that though. I got to research and plan everything so the trip was exactly what interested me and I could not have been happier. Canberra exceeded all expectations I had. Cassie if you’re reading this - thank you. You can read my guide to Canberra here
Conceptually, one of my favourite client shoots from the year would have been one for ceramicist Marloe Marloe. I was given freedom to play with something a little more conceptual and worked with broken brick & coloured soap.
I worked on two product collaborations this year which are set to be released in 2020 so as much as I would love to deep dive and let you know all about those I can’t. But needless to say, they were some of my favourite projects I worked on this year.
Lastly, I wanted to say thank you so much for all of your love, commentary & support throughout this year. I would love to know your highs and lows from 2019, what you learnt or if you met any of your goals set in January.