Dear Me 2025

Dear Me 2025,

I have a lot of goals this year.

Travel

First, I want to take several trips this spring, including a trip to Japan, Turkey, perhaps Cambodia and Laos, and a local train trip to Kyungu City. Then, I want to go to the States from May to September. I want to eithe rmove to Southern Oregon, SF (Bernal Heights or the Mission district), or Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia. Then, establish residency there and meet with an attorney to set up an estate plan, including putting assets into a family foundation.

Creativity

Continue to write daily for Writer's Cramp, Express It Eight, and Fan
Story submissions.

Continue to blog weekly on Blog Lovin, Fan Story, Medium, Substack, Wattpad, Writing.com, and podcast as well.

Continue to edit my past work.

Resume posting weekly on All Poetry, Poetry Soup, Poetry Magnum Opus, Poetry Hunter, and Facebook.

Resume weekly submissions.

Submit some chapbooks.

Consider self-publishing my poetry and novels.

Finish a collection of short stories.

Revise my spider novel and my Civil War novel and submit to an agent.

Launch a video podcast and YouTube channel.

Compete again in the April Poetry Challenge.

Compete again in NoVoWriMo.

Launch a bi-weekly newsletter.

Piano Playing

Continue to play music, getting into sonatas.
Get a MIDI cable.
Get music software.
Write one piece of music per month.
Take a music theory course.
Go to live concerts once a quarter.

Reading

I will read at least 150 books, one book per week, focusing on the classics. At least one will be in Korean, and one in Spanish.

Keep track of Fan Story and other poetry reviews. Add to the list daily.

Movies/TV

I will watch at least 250 movies and TV shows. I will watch one K-drama series or movie per week; the rest will be a mixture of recent Hollywood, movies and classic movies. I will watch at least one or two Spanish movies, one to two Bollywood movies, and one to two operas. When traveling to the States, I will watch ten movies on the plane and three to five in the movie theater, and attend one to three live dramas while in Oregon, SF and DC
.

Online Courses

Take one Great Courses or Coursera course per month, starting with Civil War, poetry writing, and music theory classes. Take all poetry classes as well. Take an AI course with Angela. Do Mo Po again focus on Mod Po Plus poetry, take Mod Po mini-courses.

Health Goals

Continue daily exercise routine including the following:

Stair walking 17 flights six times per day before and after each meal.

Chair yoga six sessions per day before stair walking.

Weights six sessions per day before stair walking.

Yoga six sessions per day before stair walking.

One hour on the Pilates ball while watching TV.

One hour on the bike while watching TV.

Join a gym and go every other day for 90 minutes—yoga, weights, cross trainer, and sauna. Meet with a trainer.

Get weight down to 170 and stabilize.

Get blood sugar to less than 95 and stabilize.

Re-test blood work in June.

See the dentist every four months.

Diet

drink half hot water first thing in the morning


Continue kefir, oatmeal, and smoothie for breakfast/lunch.

Eat carbs for lunch.

Eat a light dinner: soup, salad, kefir.

Go out for lunch or dinner every other day.

Limit coffee to three cups per day.

limit Kombucha to one glass per day


Limit alcohol to every other night.

continue taking supplements nightly

Financially

Weekly check finances with Angela.

Goal: increase investments to over 6 million dollars by the End of the Year.

Consider cashing out some stocks and investing in high interest CDs

Help with taxes.

Sell downsize property.

Donate 75 percent of books and all CDs.

Look into estate sale of artwork or donation to the Korean museum.
Set up an estate plan this summer, including setting up a family foundation.

Set up a family scholarship fund.

Donate to UW and UOP.

Relationship

Daily tell Angela how much I love her.

Solve our chronic relationship issues.

Continue weekly Zoom sessions with BHS.

Resume Euclid House Zoom once a month.

Resume family Zoom once a month.

Do other Zooms with other friends.

Meet Song and other friends once a month.

The End

Do you have big plans for yourself this year? Will you finally finish that story that's been haunting you for so long? Will you try your hand at a brand new genre? Do you want to read and review a certain number of items by April? Will you take that first step toward self-publishing your latest masterpiece? Set some goals and resolutions for the new year and you could win big prizes!

The task is simple: Write a letter to yourself and tell you what your goals are for 2025!


Judging Criteria:
Creativity: Be creative with your letter; it's to your benefit! You should be able to look back at your goals throughout the year and become instantly inspired by your own creative words of wisdom and encouragement.

Believability: Don't just throw your goals into a mindless list with no explanations or encouragement. Be sincere with yourself; this is you you're talking to!

Feasibility: Your goals should be achievable ones and to the point. Don't just tell yourself that you want to "read more" or "write more". Set some real goals with real achievable numbers and dates; give yourself something concrete to work toward!

Spelling/Grammar: We will absolutely be checking for spelling and grammar mistakes. If you're not one for spell checking or editing your first drafts, maybe you should add that into your letter to yourself for the new year.


Your entry must be:
Started with "Dear Me." Since you are the recipient of the letter, it must begin with "Dear Me."
Based on the guidelines above.
Rated 18+ or lower. Graphic content is not permitted, including GC or XGC items.
2,000 words or less. A word count must be included in the body of your item (top or bottom, not in the intro/header).
Newly written for this contest. Create your entry as a Static Item and keep it in your portfolio. Submit it using the survey form below.
Submitted One Time Only. You may only submit one entry, so make it a good one!
Edited Only Until the Deadline. Entries edited after the submission deadline may be disqualified from winning without notice.


The prizes are:

First Prize
$100.00 in Writing.Com Gift Points!
Second Prize
$50.00 in Writing.Com Gift Points!
Third Prize
$25.00 in Writing.Com Gift Points!


The submission deadline is: 11:59 pm EST, January 31, 2025

Results will be posted on or around: February 21, 2025


Paid Membership Required. In order to be eligible to win this contest, each contestant must have a paid membership (Basic and above). Paid membership expiration dates must fall after the end of the contest round. You may need to renew your membership to be eligible. The free Premium membership trial does not count as a paid membership and does not meet the requirements for eligibility.


Judges for this month are:

TBA
TBA
TBA


Each judge will submit a scoring for qualifying entries to the contest. In the event a judge can not complete the judging, their scores will not be used, and at our discretion, a judging substitution may be used. In the event of a tie, staff will render the tie-breaking decision.


Questions regarding the contest should be emailed to: Jeff (2,030)



(R) denotes a required field.
1. Using the {b-item:} format, please provide the Item ID number of the Static Item that you would like to submit. For example, if your item number is 123456, you should enter

Invalid Item  This item number is not valid. #123456 by Not Available.

into this field. Please do not enter just the item number by itself! For more information, click here: WritingML Help for b-item (R)

2. I understand that in order to be eligible to win, I must have a paid membership of Basic or higher through the end of the contest round. (R)
Check this box to agree with the above statement.
3. I understand that if my entry is edited after the submission deadline it may be disqualified from winning without notice. (R)
Check this box to agree with the above statement.
4. I have read the rules carefully and understand that if my entry doesn't follow these rules, it may be disqualified. (R)
Check this box to agree with the above statement.
5. Did this contest inspire you for the new year ahead?



Dear Me

I have a lot of goals this year.

Travel

First I want to take a trip someplace warm in February, perhaps Thailand.

then off to the States from July to October.

Oregon, Northern California possible side trip to Washington State or LA particularly if Chongnam joins us.

perhaps a local trip before leaving for the States – Japan or local road trip.

I want to become an Oregon resident this summer and finally get an estate plan together setting up a family trust or foundation to put my properties into.

then off to attend my 50th High School reunion in October.

Creativity I have lots of plans

first, continue to write daily
second continue to blog weekly including Blog Lovin, fan story, medium, substack, Wattpad, and writing com.

third continue to edit my past work

Fourth submit some chapbooks

fifth consider self-publishing my poetry and novels

six finish a collection of Short Stories

continue to play music getting into sonatas by this summer.

In November I will compete again in NaNoWriMo writing either Gods Roommate, or Future Histories

I will learn how to create a video blog and add that to my weekly routine during the weekend when I update my blog.

I will launch a bi-weekly newsletter


I will read at least 150 books, one book per week focusing on the classics, at least one will be in Korean, and one in Spanish.

I will watch at least 100 movies and TV shows. I will watch one K drama series or movie per week, the rest will be a mixture of Hollywood recent movies, and classic movies. I will watch at least one or two Spanish movies one to two Bollywood movies, and one to two operas. When traveling to the States will watch ten movies on the plane and three to five in the movie theater.

Health goals:


get new dentures

figure out what is causing my neuropathic pain in my foot and what is causing the bone density to build up in my back.

continue daily exercise, particularly the Pilates ball.

Financially

I want to not only set up an estate plan but begin downsizing my real estate holdings.


lastly, want to continue every day loving my wife.

the End