Dreams...

     Hello everyone!

     I`m writing this blog in order to keep track of my progress this year.

     I have finally decided to take action to realize some of my dreams and made a list for myself, of the things I need to do this year.

     I will share the list here, but for now let me talk about my philosophy.

     My dream is to help create a world with less conflict and no wars, where people understand themselves and each other. I`m hopeful of the human kind. Is it possible for one person to change the world? Maybe... Maybe not... But at one point one has to start the change or be a part of the change or just be the change. 

     I`m studying psychology at the university. After taking some courses of cross-cultural psychology and going abroad to study in Japan, I had the chance to experience a multicultural life. All of the Japanese were talking Japanese and acting Japanese, my roommates were from United States, I met with Europeans and Latins for the first time, and it was the first time I had ever been away from home, living all by myself. 

     It was a life changing experience for me, because it has changed my view of my self, the world and the life. I have also had the chance to observe peoples behavior. (Not only in Japan but also in India, Mexico, France and Greece etc.) I tried to apply everything I had learned in class to the real life situations. What I have found is that almost every conflict is actually a problem of interpersonal communication. Lack of listening, lack of control over one`s emotions, lack of knowledge about proper ways of communication, lack of respect to other person`s beliefs, lack of knowledge about cultural differences... Such shortcomings are what cause the conflict.

     I`m planning to study intercultural communication and cross-cultural psychology further. The more I am exposed to different cultures and people, the better, the stronger the basis of my studies will get. I don`t want to be biased. I need a broader world view and mor tolerance for differences. For that, I need to know myself and accept me as I am, then I need to learn to accept others. After all that, I want to make a change by teaching people how to accept and how to love.

     My goals for this year focus on improving myself in various areas of my life, e.g. independence, art,  gastronomy etc. Here they are:

1. Rent my own room. (I want to celebrate New Year at my own place next year. I want to be able to live on my own. It also bothers me not being allowed to stay over at my friend`s or boyfriend`s place.)
2. Gain my financial independence. (Since my scholarship ended a few months ago, I`m using my parents money.)
3. Update this blog daily. (I think this a crucial goal, because it is important for me keep my persistence. Every time I start doing something with a really high motivation, I always give up after a while, because I`m not very persistent on anything. But not this time. I won`t let myself down.)
4. Create a Travelbook. (I need to gather information about the countries I want to go in the future. I thought about writing it in a notebook manually, but I realized it would be more efficient if I do it digitally, since I will have to use the internet to do my research. My Travelbook will consist of the related entries of this blog.)
5. Revise my goal list and evaluate my progress monthly. (Keeping track of the progress will help me determine my efficiency in work- and study-related fields and also in my daily life.)
6. Gain work experience at a decent company. (Since I don`t have much work experience, except working as a foreign language teacher)
7. Learn Water Marbling. (It is a traditional turkish art form practiced for the last 2-3 centuries. I thought that if I wanted to travel around the world, I needed to work independently and earn money with some kind of handcraft or something. Then I thought of learning this art form. Although my intentions of learning it are not as pure as it should be, I love the art and I believe I can pull it off.)
8. Excel in sumi-e painting. (I took courses of sumi-e while I was in Japan. I still have the technique in me, but I need a little bit of practice. It`s another potential way to make money. However, I paint only because I have so much fun when I`m doing that.)
9. Upload at least 100 works on Deviantart. (I had an old account there, but since I'm changing everything around me, it's also time to change that account.)
10. Make at least 100$ on Etsy. (I plan to sell my paintings and marbled papers on etsy.com. we`ll see if it goes well.)
11. Read 100 books. (I thought I could read about 100 books this year, 2 books a week. I`m not very confident though, `cause I read really slowly.)
12. Read all of the National Geographic magazines in my library. (After adding this goal to my list, I calculated again and concluded that I can read 52 magazines and 52-75 books in a year if I do 1 magazine and 1-2 books per week. I don`t understand why I need to calculate so much :P)
13. Watch 100 films. (That`s more realistic than the others. I used to watch a lot of movies, but recently I`m addicted to the TV shows streaming online all over the internet. I need to go back to the old ways.)
14. Read all of the mangas in my library. (I bought a couple of manga series in Japan. I will finish reading them hopefully by this summer.)
15. Try out 30 new recipes. (I will have to learn how to cook if I intend to live on my own.)
16. Graduate from school. (I must graduate at some point. The sooner, the better.)

     I got the idea of doing such list from a random book I picked at the university library. The title is  "Dream it, List it, Do it!" I learned about a website called 43Things.com. People set goals for themselves and they share them with others. It`s somehow encouraging and motivating. You can check my account.