Here we are at the final Blog post of 2019 and I’d like to take a moment to look back at the past year, focusing on some memorable moments.
It’s been…Well, maybe it’s just me, but it seems like (for at least the last 4-5 years anyway) right about this time, I keep hearing people mention what a long year it was.
I don’t know about it being long, but it sure has required a bit of effort. I mean they all do – some more than others, to be sure, but here we are at the end of one, and I’d like to think back on what it had waiting for me, so let’s dig in.
I lost Weight!! This is a good thing because I had it to lose. I confess though, at the end of the year, I can tell I’m back-sliding a bit, so there’s more work to be done on that front.
I sold a short story! There were some rough patches along the way, but seeing it come out in 2020 is one of the things I’m looking forward to.
I’m in between agents. Now I know there’s a bit of a contrast here, but listen. Even though this feels like a set back, what it really is, is growth. Relationships change, that’s all. But what is also is, is experience, something I didn’t have before, and I’m taking what I can learn from that and building on it.
I got my first Fountain Pen! I am purely mentioning it because it brings me joy to use it (I’m drafting this post with it even now…).
Rugby has happened this year – a lot of Rugby. I’ve talked before about how much I love the game. It inspires me, and this year was a World Cup year (they only hold it once every four years), and it was amazing!! I am also spending time tracking down (because GEO blocking is utterly archaic and stupid in the 21st-freaking-century) regional, and Women’s rugby and enjoying that as well (Honestly, I’d like to see more Women’s Rugby in 2020).
I’d started off the year with the goal of reading more things that – before – I wouldn’t normally have read. I dipped my toes into Biography, Old-School Private-eye stories, and Romance. After a year of that, let me tell you that the waters were pleasantly warm and inviting.
Musically, I’ve tried to expand my horizons and find new bands to listen to while simultaneously returning to my roots. There were good finds in both directions and…well…not so good finds.
This was a good year for movies! Primarily, it was a good year because I actually got out and saw some – seriously, 2018 was a moviegoing wasteland. Like my musical experience, I returned to old fandoms, and I expanded my horizons into new fandoms – which is always a good thing.
I could go on and on and on, but my fingers have gone numb twice already and are starting to get tingly again.
Suffice it to say that there were heaps of awesome to look back on. Were there down sides? Of course there were, but I’m not going to give them any more power by dwelling on them beyond the lessons that they taught.
In the end, the “Good” outweighed the “Bad” and even when lousiness occurred, it left something behind to build upon.
New Year’s is a few days away yet and I’m going to continue to look back and reflect upon the past, then look forward and plan for the future.
Be safe, Friends. Be Excellent to each other, and I’ll see you in 2020.
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