The dreamworld 2024 ins list!
My own personal trend forecast going into the new year.
The ins and outs lists popping up on social media over the past few days have been one of my favorite parts of the new year’s buzz. Instead of planning my new year in terms of resolutions, I was inspired to spend my first day of 2024 writing a detailed list of “ins” for the year and a little about why I am thinking about them right now. I highly recommend this ritual as an exercise in manifestation and vibe curation for the year. I may even repeat it in years to come. Also, look out for my “outs” post coming in a few days…
In for 2024:
An ambitious Goodreads reading challenge.
Last year, I read 13 books, most of which I read the last half of the year after re-opening the Goodreads app for the first time in a while. Goodreads actually holds me accountable to reading (something I want to be doing anyway) but can often slip through the cracks in the whirlwind of a busy life. There's something so fun and gratifying about logging in and sharing something you care about! Seeing what your friend gave 5 stars or put on their "favorites" bookshelf adds an extra dash of inspiration to the love of reading. Even though I didn't hit my 15-book reading goal this year, I increased my goal to 24 books for 2024. With my newfound love for audiobooks (available for free with a library card!) I think I have this goal in the bag.
Evoking Brooklyn in 2013
Avid readers of dreamworld have probably gleaned that 2013 is one of my favorite years. Although this obsession is eternal, I'm especially inspired by it going into the new year. I saw the coolest woman with bangs wearing a black slip dress and a leopard fur coat at the bar on New Year's Eve. I immediately decided that her vibe was going to rule my 2024. None of this revisionist indie sleaze nonsense. We're dressing like we stepped out of a time machine straight from 2013 Brooklyn, Portlandia, or an American Apparel ad. That's what I'm doing, at least! First person to wear an owl necklace and make it look cool wins.
My indie sleaze wishlist:
Leopard print everything
Jeffery Campbell Litas (inner child healing purposes)
Fur coat
Candy cigs
Print magazines
In the past year or so, I have gotten into collaging with vintage books and magazines. I love making a little card, candle, or piece of artwork--usually to give as gifts. This hobby has jump-started my fixation on collecting print media. So far, my magazine collection is mostly vintage magazines with torn-out pages used for my collages. I'd love to add a few modern magazine subscriptions and vintage magazines that are off-limits to collaging into the mix in 2024. Collecting magazines is like preserving a capsule of a specific moment. The specificity of being about to look back and see what people were buzzing about in April 1978 feels like having access to a hyper-specific level of insight on that moment in time that feels almost too good to be true. One day, January 2024, will feel just as distant.
Open houses and estate sales
One of my favorite suburban phenomena is going to an open house when you're not in the market for a new place, just for entertainment. I have been doing this digitally on Facebook marketplace and Zillow for months, but I think it's time to step up my game. Being in a space and imagining your life there provides a lot of insight into your actual wants and desires that transcend the confines of the physical house or apartment. I always experience this when I move, and an open house is one of the best ways to microdose that feeling!
There's also nothing more fascinating than admiring a lifelong collection of trinkets. Seeing living spaces, both empty and occupied by years and years of accumulated collections, feels like a reminder that you're actually in the middle of living your life. It disrupts your routine and puts your mind in a fresh place.
Artist dates
One of my favorite gifts I received for Christmas was the book The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, which introduced me to the concept of the artist date. Essentially, artist dates are dates with your creative self. Taking yourself on an artist's date means designating 2 hours weekly to do something creatively inspiring alone. Not necessarily something actively creative but something observational and inspiring. 2024 is the year of cultivating inspiration and being at a borderline crazy level dedicated to fueling my creativity!
My artist date ideas:
Going around town and finding and buying the perfect stickers to put on my water bottles, headphones, etc.
Visiting an art museum
Taking a long walk in nature
Breakfast for dinner
The most important meal of the day! I will not be containing myself to eating breakfast in the AM. Avocado toast topped with eggs is a perfect evening meal on days where the intensity of "dinner food" preparation is just not happening.
Ireland
What a place! That's all I'll say for now.
Weekly or monthly rituals:
Maybe I'm just getting old or was a little underemployed this year, but weekly rituals are so in. Getting weekly flowers at the farmers market? Being a regular at a cafe? What could be more glamorous? I would love to go to thrift stores weekly in 2024, but not in a hyper-consumerist way. In a way of refining my gathering skills and only actually buying something if it's an absolute score. This one may be dangerous.
Returning to the analog
Blah blah, iPhones are bad. It's definitely partially the 2013 indie sleaze thing talking, but lately, I like the idea of returning to the analog versions of tools that have been replaced by our phones. This is especially fun if there's a design element to these tools, like an actual alarm clock or a physical calendar designed by a local artist. I'm still going to use the phone versions sometimes, but functional elements like this make any room design much cooler, more real, and lived-in.
Weekend and day trips
It's challenging to do a lot of traveling without the ability to take significant time off of work. Especially if you view traveling as exclusively confined to weeklong stays, including hotels, flights, etc. Although there's a time and place for these types of trips, I want to take a second to advocate for the thrifty weekend trip in 2024. Staying with friends, doing things on a budget, prioritizing exploration, and experiencing a new place over luxury and comfort is the best way to go! It sacrifices little in quality but dramatically increases the number of possible trips in one year. Day trips to random small towns are also a great excuse to go to a random-seeming place you otherwise would never would have visited, and to curate a road trip playlist. Even if the town is otherwise not too exciting, they probably have a cool antique store.
Being a hater, selectively
My college roommates and I had a conversation one time that has stuck in the back of my mind about people who are "haters" and people who are "lovers." Our theory is that this binary (like many) is deeply flawed! The best haters are also lovers. It gives some credibility to the hating because there's no doubt that they know things enough to love them, and they're not hating for the sake of hating. I am embracing being a selective hater about what I choose to believe against.
Older women as role models
Coming out of a year where manosphere podcast bros and their consequences were ubiquitous, it's more important than ever to dedicate space in your brain to successful and inspiring older women. Over the past few years, I have gained a strong appreciation for the wisdom of older women as personal role models. Women who have remained creative and politically engaged and experienced changing times throughout a handful of decades have some of the most extraordinary outlooks on life to offer. It has also made me realize how many perceived trappings of aging as a woman are social phenomena one can challenge by not caving into social pressure and cultivating robust personal relationships that transcend superficiality. Engaging with older women you admire through consuming their art, reading their books, or even expanding who you follow online will do something to your brain to make you feel like your life expectancy has doubled. At least, it has for me.