2019| my new year’s intentions for AMARAAMARYAH

Amara Amaryah | travel + books + poetry, always poetry. a platform for story-telling, visuals, positive self-talk and empowerment | 2019 new year’s intentions

hello loves

i’ve had some interesting conversations already this year about setting realistic intentions for 2019. 2018 saw impressive growth with page views, revamped the blog (did you notice?) and also improved quality of my content. i’m proud of what 2018 taught me about my blogging style and i’m ready to take it all the way up in 2019!

all good things become great things down to two things, i think. 1) accountability and 2) sacrifice.

accountability

the idea to share my poetry and blog intentions with you guys means i can be accountable to my subscribers throughout 2019. my intention is to make a public commitment, not to be forced into maintaining it, but to be reminded. and constantly reinsipred.

sacrifice

i remember watching shameless maya’s youtube video about her sacrifice. after a conversation with God, maya washington sacrificed her sex life, becoming celibate in order to get forward in her content creation/career. and she kept that sacrifice, recognised the exchange and did what many of us hope to do: became her vision.

something has to give. i never felt like i had anything negative that i needed to sacrifice. nothing really held me back. but i realised that it doesn’t always have to be a negative sacrifice. after assessing myself and my time in 2018, i realised that i really cherish ‘me time’, ‘quiet time’ and selfcare days a lot. and that is healthy. selfcare does need to be a solid feature in my life. but it also has to take a back seat this year.

Let me explain-

i can’t work my 9-5 (looking after my finances), go to the gym (looking after my body), have a long relaxing bath (massive part of my selfacre routine) and then come out to journal (looking after my mind) and expect to have time to create content, write poetry and not be exhausted. something has to give. and i say this because i didn’t find a balance in 2018, unfortunately. in this sense, my selfcare practices need montioring and minimising.

i am not welcoming burn-out and i will never willingly deprive myself from my own attention. i’ve worked too hard on myself and created a softness that makes me prioritise my inner peace, always. but i am going to choose a busy night of work over a slow night of undoing and destressing. this goes for most nights, not all. i’ll figure out a routine, but i suspect this year will feature less slow saturdays + quiet sundays.

2018 was a year of magic. it was quiet, happening, painful, powerful and it was love. i took time to share the highlights in my instagram story this week. i’ve shared some of those highs in this post for those who missed it. and also because i spent ages working on them to last longer than 24 hours.

the intentions:

blog:

post regular content. (non-bloggers think this is a joke but bloggers know that this is a serious ting. a proposal with a big shiny ring. i honestly put in a lot of work with each post. it’s refreshing to see the feedback but it does need to be more regular for it to all pay off).

travel more. the more i teavel the more content i’ll be able to create.

create travel resources. i have a few ideas about creating shareable content about my travel trips. i’ve had some inspo via pinterest and other travel bloggers and i’m going to play with it more in 2019.

read more: i need to. i’ve enjoyed being a part of the book blogger community and there is so much to be read. the monthly book hauls are definitely here to stay in 2019 as they worked so well.

as a black woman writer and a book blogger, i will naturally use my platform to read, review and support more black women writers. i’m inspired by madeline wilson-ojo’s recent blog post where she explains that she’ll be reading more indie books written by black women in 2019. i basically want to inhale as many books as i can in 2019 and i’m gonna share it all on the blog.

in 2019 i will produce atleast one paid/sponsored post in collaboration with a brand i value. i’m ready to create high quality content for self-care, travel or books in the paid realm now. if you’re a brand or know of a brand, feel free to drop me an email [amararanger.artist@gmail.com]

more guest blogging. there are several amazing women who i would love to feature on the blog. in 2019 i look forward to opening my platform out to other amazing bloggers and featuring on other blogs too. again with the plug – email me!

poetry:

new writing: my blog originally started out as a platform solely for sharing my poetry. it’s evolved massively and now is about my travel writing, reviewing books that i’ve read whilst sharing poems from books i am writing. this 2019, i intend on sharing my writing in different ways. and more purposefully. i have a few personal poetic inspirations and projects that i will share throughout 2019. but ultimately, there will be new writing, shared in the right moments.

more readings: even though i prefer myself as page poet, i am ready to do more paid poetry readings in 2019. purely because they are magic and remind me that i am. in 2018, i had 3 paid poetry readings and i’d love to increase that number this year. booking, suggestions and conversations in my email amararanger.artist@gmail.com

poetry is my first love and my main way of communicating so i can’t forget that in 2019. in fact, this year has started with a poetry success.

i performed at outspoken press’ book tour in november where i met felipe botero quantana, a colombian poet and translator. after hearing me perform, he wanted to share my words in the colombian publication – arcadia. the article has just been published so my poetry is now internationally shared and translated into spanish now! you can find the translation of the three poems here and see me preparing to live my best colombian life.

materials: this year i have an exciting goal linked to my love of selfcare practices, uplifting words and illustration. i’ll announce my creations very soon (very soon) – subscribe to stay updated about the news and be one of the first for the free materials…

and so it is. 2019 and all of her intentions for AmaraAmaryah.com

i believe that once you write it down it becomes. these intentions are mine and are tangible now. they’re not fixed and they’re not to intimidate. but they will bring me joy (and the level of success i’m ready for) when i do achieve them.

Asé.

thanks for reading what i write. remember to subscribe to stay updated and get the latest from the blog. comment below your 2019 blog or creative intentions.

Yah bless.

Amara Amaryah.

#travelblogger #wordpress #blogger #spokenword #london #poetry #newyear #ukblogger #selfcare