Happy new year! Well, hopefully. Things happen, but hopefully next year when you reflect on this year, it will be an overall good year for you.
This year I’m starting off the year with less personal contacts than last year but more peace of mind and a renewed sense of self. I’ve had to re-learn how to get over losing toxic people (should be easier than it sounds but, not always), I’ve had to in many ways build back better. I have done a lot of soul searching and identified new identities to add to the previous list, I have gained a new appreciation for my spirituality & practices (even if they are a little different, it’s helped me process things and make new connections. Looking back on 2022, it wasn’t all bad or good. There were a lot of up and down moments but the year ended with my hopes renewed, and my determination strong!
I don’t really do new years resolutions or anything, I just set goals I want to accomplish in the current year. I find that has been a better motivator, and if I don’t reach all of them I adjust for next year. As long as I am moving forward, and continuing to grow in the right direction I should be happy with my journey. That said, I’ll share some goals I met last year as an idea to others, and some unexpected successes and failures/missteps. First the good, this, the blog My goal was to write at least 12 posts last year, and I did. Not necessarily one a month but 12 for the year at least. Some things that sound simple but with life issues and a day job, sometimes this gets pushed aside, and it shouldn’t. Sharing my thoughts or talking about things that may help others is important to me, and like I’ve said before, if I can help at least one person I can be okay with that. I also managed to write in the various stories I have going on, which has been a slow process, but I am not an accomplished author so I can take as long as I want, I managed to meditate at least once a week (most times) and kind of went on a weekend trip with my wife (it was for work and we got the flu when we got back, but I still managed to enjoy it). An unexpected goal I didn’t even set but accomplished, I paid off my student loans! It was a small amount compared to many others, but I paid it off and I am proud of that.
Some of the not so great, we had some last minute emergency house issues come up and we had to get some things repaired, rebuilt, and fixed up and while we aren’t done we’ve made good progress. Also as mentioned before we lost some people in our lives, some friends and family that would rather burn bridges than build strong foundations. I would say good riddance to bad blood, but realistically it hurt, we cared about these people and it turned out for years one of them was a huge manipulator and they managed to manipulate our friends as well so while it ended with bad blood it could have been worse. Now I just hope they reap what they sow. If they put out negativity or positivity, may it return to them 3 fold. I honestly hope they can purge the toxicity and live better lives, even if we never reconnect.
Now some goals for this year! Again, this right here. I want to blog more regularly. I still plan to hit the 12 mark, but why not try to beat last year’s record? I feel like I may mention some similar things, but hopefully with a different lens in some cases. I will try to write more and maybe finish and share one of the short stories I am working on. I randomly picked up abstract self-indulgent painting last year (after watching a few things about Basquiat), and hope to continue that. The Vegan Discord is kind of on hiatus as I don’t have as many vegan friends but that is okay, and I may also return to streaming on Twitch! There are some personal private goals I have as well, but I won’t share those on such a public place right now, but if they are successful I will update you.
Since it is a new year I will plug some of the people and local businesses that are important to me in hopes that they may reach their goals and find new support. I hope you all have a great 2023, there will be ups and downs I’m sure but do your best, keep moving forward, and know someone out there is rooting for you.
Later days
~Owl
Support small artists and businesses, these are some of the fine folks we know and love:
The Malliway Bros.– They are a local occult and magic shop, they have very fun and knowledgeable staff, and the owners are great. If they were closer I’d probably be there everyday. They also run an independent publishing company Crossed Crow books
Rotofugi – They are a designer toy store and art gallery and I have bought many things from them over the years
Horrorzoid Podcast – They host a podcast about horror films/ and the industry where ever you listen to your podcasts (they also have a youtube channel)
Artist to support
The World Through My Eyes 