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Issue 2: Blank Slates

Vision Boards, Decluttering, and Cleaning Up

Letter From the Editor

Dearest Reader,

The beginning of the year has been touted by many to be an opportunity for a blank slate. In this issue, I want to ask about whether someone can turn their year around even if they missed the “full rebrand” that happens on January 1st. My January, for example, was full of construction projects, missed assignments, a gym membership I used for three days, and constantly pondering about my future in life. Recently, I’ve not been doing super great in the mental health department. It seems like I’m doing everything and nothing at the same time, and the constant subconscious comparison with others my age is finally getting to me. However, I am determined to turn my 2026 around in February. That’s what inspired making an issue about how every day is a fresh start, because it truly is. Hopefully it can help some of you too.

In this issue, we’re going to discuss making vision boards, decluttering and reorganizing my space, and consciously engaging with what we consume.

Challenges

This month’s challenge is to make a vision board.

I’ve made lots of vision boards in the past, specifically, I really bought with the concept of reframing my life in the early months of 2025. I watched all of the self-help videos I could, read the books, listened to the podcasts, but it all seemed to fall apart. So I decided to make one for 2026 in early December.

So why is my challenge to make a vision board if I already have one? This time, I’m being conscious about the pictures I am choosing. I want to pick photos that truly reflect how I want to spend my 2026, not this idealized version of me who is not tangibly achievable.

Step 1: Write down actual goals to achieve in 2026.

Creative:

-Keep up with 23.7FM bimonthly for an entire year.

-Complete at least one creative project a quarter (every three months) if not more.

-Start taking at least one photo on my walks.

-Journal or draw six times a week to remember what happened on days.

-Finish a book once a month

Friends:

-Go to movie nights with my friends every week.

-Go somewhere new/try something new once a month.

Fitness:

-Walk outside or go to the gym six times a week (weather and time permitting)

-Replace sugar and starchy foods with whole fruits.

Step 2: Everyone’s favorite step… go to Pinterest and find pictures that align with these goals.

Step 3: Put it all together.

Dining Room

This month’s dining room obsession is decluttering and organization.

Right now, the carpet is being ripped out of my room and I have the opportunity to go through everything I own. It’s been interesting to say the least. I keep getting bogged down by the weight of having to peruse through everything and find myself completely paralyzed from the weight of making such a seemingly important decision. That, coupled with having to recognize how much I’ve accumulated over the years, has taken a large mental toll on me.

You see, I haven’t always had this obsession with cleanliness and organization. I inherited half-hoarder from my dad and half-sentimental from my mom. When I was younger, it seemed like I could never keep my room clean. I was always the type of kid to have absolutely everything laying out all over the floor, living out of clothes that never left my stack of laundry baskets and drinking out of week-old water from the millions of stacked cups. And I tried being clean. Years of my parents entering my room and audibly sighing had caused me to go down the organization rabbit hole. I watched Marie Kondo’s show on Netflix tons of times, tried and failed to get tips from my sister, and made various attempts to clean it. But again and again, I tried and failed. But I guess here is the story of how I miraculously decided to organize and get my life together.

I wanted more than anything to go to a college away from home. I decided to get my “away from home” through living in the dorms. You can probably guess that I did not live the dorm dream where I lived with someone I became best friends with. I had a roommate who would not clean up after herself. Out of all my messiness, I considered the worst sin to be food left out. My clothes could be scattered on the floor, but as long as I know which ones are clean I don’t care. Posters could be falling off of my falls, but at least I had some decoration. Water cups could be out, but soda cups could not. As you could again probably infer, my roommate was not of the same mind. I expected myself to be messy as well, but I wasn’t.

I like to think that my first theory is either because I liked comparing my clean space to her messiness, or I was so scared of being judged that I was forced into cleanliness (a version of the theory that appeared after I shared a room where my space was clear view of anyone walking in the door when I lived in Florida).

When I was back at home, I had this sudden urge to go through everything I owned. See, I usually had a very unsavory duo of sentimental hoarding guiding all of my decisions. If something was cute and I liked it for as long as I was in a store, I would buy it. I had been doing that ever since I had any money to spend at all, which was probably since I was 10 going to the mall with my friends.

At the dorm, I naturally had less things to worry about because I couldn’t move everything I owned. At home, I had hoarded things from ever since I was young. I realized that I was messy because I didn’t have a place to put everything. I started watching all kinds of “un-hauling” and cleanout videos, trying to mimic it for myself. What really made a difference in my life? What did I enjoy? Ever since I seriously went through my own things, I have cleared both my mind and my space. I have been able to do things that I never thought possible (I have a COUCH in my room), and I have discovered so many more hobbies through making space for the things that I love.

It does, in fact, get better. You just have to learn how you work. For instance, I need to be able to see what I own to enjoy it. There’s no point for me to put everything in a box, I need to be able to see it with my eyes. Also I need to repeatedly go through the things I own, that way I don’t have to find places to put things that I cannot store. I feel like everyone can become clean over time. All it takes is a few times watching Marie Kondo and constant comparison to other people! Here are some things I’m planning to organize:

-I was an art major, so I own a bunch of supplies that I’m never going to use. I plan to go through and give some of my supplies I don’t use to my friends or donate it to this special area we have in the art building. I think it’s fun to be a crafty girl, but I need to actually use the scraps I have to junk journal before collecting anymore. Luckily for me, I have lots of creative friends, so I’m planning on giving them most of what I don’t use.

-Sentimental items are really hard for me to let go of. I’ve recently come up with several ideas on how to scrapbook items to make it into one cohesive place. I really want to use the scanner that is built into my mom’s printer so I can also have scans of bigger items, that way I don’t have to actually keep them. Scrapbooking is a great way to combine all of them together in one easy-to-view location.

-Technology and cords has proven to be a difficult thing for me to sort through. I’ve been given more random objects than I can count, more phone cords and other things I definitely have enough of. Because I own a Wii, batteries have also proven to be a pain for me to deal with, mainly because it’s a guessing game about what is charged and what isn’t.