You might think that The Completist is some kind of 'professional big brand', but I promise you, it's mostly just vibes. Okay, let me reword all that - look, we are professional, of course, and big depends on your definition, I suppose. But being led by vibes has always been a very big theme. Our team is second to none for best intentions (we can brainstorm up a... storm (?) of great content ideas (and not just content for content's sake, but actual useful content)), but the executing? Yeah, that one's harder to do (some of us are better than others, that's for sure). Life gets in the way, all that. Personally, sometimes I sit back and marvel at how much I manage to achieve in a year, while simultaneously doing none of the things I meant to do (and honestly, this isn't time constraints, it's purely procrastination and I'm the first to admit it) (okay maybe I'm being a bit too hard on myself, I do spin about 57 plates at any given time).
This year we enlisted some help to rebrand and refocus, and one of the (many) themes that came out of that was the idea of imperfectionism, and embracing everything that entails. Planners and stationery are quite often bound with ideas of being perfectly organised and disciplined, and that's just never been me (and if it's you, know that I will always be unbelievably impressed). Something that having a stationery brand has taught me is to just use the notebook. You know what I mean. We've all got stacks of notebooks we never use for fear of ruining them (how could you really ruin a notebook, unless you spill oil all over it for example) (which I've done, btw). I, myself, suffer from the fear of a blank page, and I always forget how nice it is to use the very last page of a full, messy, and beaten up notebook. And I guess that's what imperfectionism is - just start the notebook, spill things on it, have pages with only one thing written on them, or bad sketches, or whatever. Whatever it is, is so fine because these things are there to be used and enjoyed (see also: candles). ANYWAY, the point of all this is to say that I planned some great content, and you know what, since I planned it, I wrote exactly 1 post (and not even for The Completist, but for our sister store Etc.Store). This will be the 2nd, and it's an ode to all the posts I vaguely thought about/planned/drafted and never wrote (imperfectionism for the win).
In no particular order:
- Self gift guide: maybe I just spend too much time on Substack, but 2024 felt like the year of the gift guide (and peak discourse about loving and/or hating gift guides). We're always advocates for treating yourself (fans of a 'one for you, one for me' gifting strategy) and it felt like self-gifting was left out of the conversation. Had high hopes for getting this one done, didn't get there, then someone else also had the idea. Oh well, maybe next year.
- Ins and Outs list: I love a list, so I actually started this one. It included Pantone Colour of the Year and Spotify Wrapped Conspiracy Theories (I'll let you guess which side of the list they each fell on).
- Favourite things in 2024: I wanted to do this one, I really did. Trying very hard to shift focus after a year that's been a year (you know what I mean). But I genuinely struggle to think of things I loved about 2024 (anyone else??) That makes me sound like a total sad sack, but it really has been a (insert expletive here) year. The best thing about it? The end of it. Bring on 2025.
- General travel guides: we travel a lot for The Completist, so travel guide content should be easy, and I have so many good intentions. Plus, we come across so many places that we want to share with you all. I think this is one I have to force myself to do while I'm travelling (like, at the airport before I board) or else it just doesn't happen, and then I scroll back through my pics 3 months later trying to remember what everything was. My promise to you: we're going back to Seoul and Japan this year, and I will at least post a list of stationery stores in both.
- Podcasts to listen to that don't feed the politics doom spiral: probably still going to do this one at some point.
- Places to be that aren't the cesspit that is Twitter: sensing a theme here...
- 2024 roundup: see above. Also, the thought of revisiting this year is exhausting. Who knew a year could feel like a decade? Okay, this is all getting a bit down in the dumps so...
- 2025 trends: what do I think I am, a trend forecaster? I'd like to be (it was a dream job at one point) but this one definitely required a lot more brain space and thinking time than I actually had.
- Stationery for star signs: too controversial. You just know Scorpio is going to think you chose the wrong thing and never let you forget it..
Okay, that's probably all I was realistically ever going to write, and considering how much I actually wrote, I think we can all agree it was optimistic at best. Hey, maybe one of my New Year's resolutions can be to actually write more and tackle some of these ideas. 2025 has got to be better... right (right?) so I'll be feeling it (right?!).
