Anybody else overthinking their vision boards? 🙋🏻♀️
Well, well, well. Look who’s back to blogging. Me!
The holidays turned out to be more emotionally and physically taxing than I’d thought — shorter days and longer nights, reminders of strained relationships, disappointment in our society’s obsession with capitalism and consumerism… so I begrudgingly gave myself some time off.
But it’s now a brand new year! Let’s give 2023 a big, warm welcome. 🥳 👏👏👏
Overall, 2022 was a great year. I have a lot to be proud of, and I got to experience a lot of new things. There was definitely a whole lot of stress, and some hard lessons were learned.
I looked through my calendar and was surprised by how much happened in just one year. Without a doubt, the biggest change was adopting Ladybird. She’s my first dog. I grew up on a cattle ranch with unruly ranch dogs that served more as security guards than pets.
Raising a puppy to not be a nuisance to society — particularly an extroverted, free-spirited pittie unaware of the baggage that comes with her breed — is a huge, expensive responsibility. Our lives and bank account now revolve around her. But she brings us (and everyone else who meets her) so much joy, and I have no regrets, other than not buying pet insurance sooner. 😫 Don’t hesitate to make the purchase, especially if your puppy is beefy and playful and lacks spatial awareness.
Aside from the greatest gift of the year, 2022 marked a lot of other important changes and milestones and set me up for a whole other adventure in 2023.
Here’s a mix of accomplishments and experiences. I’m sure I’m forgetting stuff.
2022 Highlights
- We brought home Ladybird on my 35th birthday. (Adopt, don’t shop.)
- We visited six states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah.
- We road-tripped to our first bouldering festival.
- I also participated in my first bouldering competition.
- My original TV pilot advanced in four screenwriting competitions (five categories) and is still in the top 2% of all discoverable projects on Coverfly. 🙌🏼 This has led to some promising conversations that will hopefully open some doors in 2023.
- I managed an awesome content team.
- I got a 54% raise — and confirmed I’m not motivated by money, though the paycheck was great for those five months because it resulted in the following:
- We bought a new fancy fridge.
- We finally got a water softener.
- I paid off a personal loan.
- I paid off a private student loan.
- We increased our savings.
- We refinanced our mortgage which also increased our savings.
- We finally finished painting the hallway and other miscellaneous home projects.
- I finally got the courage to get the haircut I actually wanted and LOVE IT.
- I was social for the first time in years and hung out with a lot of friends.
- I reconnected with my spirituality.
- I quit my job.
- I started this blog.
- I wrote and performed my first standup set.
- It’s taken about 8 years, but I think we finally figured out a chemical concoction to keep me stable and functionable. Yay!
- Because of the aforementioned chemical concoction, I was finally diagnosed with ADHD, and life is not so overwhelming now.
Lessons Learned
- Pick your battles, but keep firm boundaries.
- Identify your values and surround yourself with people who help you live them.
- Confidence does not equal competence.
Also, a dog is so much more work than a cat, but at least their love for you is unconditional. It’s also very hard to stay depressed when you’ve got a happy wiggle-butt greeting you every morning. I’m still very much a cat lady, but being loved by a dog is a whole different experience.
Lessons Reaffirmed
- It’s better to be brave than to be quiet.
- Just because something is uncomfortable doesn’t mean it’s wrong.
- Stability is a journey, not a destination.
Coming Up Next in 2023
New Year’s resolutions don’t make much sense for me. I’m a very goal-oriented person, so I’m always working toward something anyway. I’ve also been building good habits and routines for a while now. So I’m focusing on affirmations instead. I’ll talk more about this in an upcoming post. I’m super excited to share that.
Other than that, it looks like Ladybird might have osteomyelitis so we’re currently dealing with that. We canceled my birthday trip we had planned for later this month so we could redirect all of our attention (and savings) to cover those expenses. It’s unclear whether our insurer will consider this diagnosis as a pre-existing condition. It’s very expensive to treat and will require long-term care.
In the meantime, I’ve been working on establishing positive daily habits for my physical and mental health. I’m writing daily (‘My infrequent publishing isn’t indicative of my productivity’ is what I keep telling myself) and continuing the search for a balanced life.
Ultimately, my goal is to make a living off my writing without feeling like I’ve sold my soul. I’m taking steps to forge that path to myself. But if you’ve got any leads, please send them my way. 😉
Random Sidebar…
I’ve been waiting for 2023 ever since I was a little girl. It’s true. The reason is silly: My birthday is on January 23, and this year it will be on 1/23/23.
That’s it. That’s the reason.
After that, the next most-exciting birthday will be on 1/23/45. (Any numerology enthusiasts out there? Do these dates and numbers mean anything?).
But this month I turn 36.
I look forward to birthdays and love celebrating them. I’m always grateful to have made it another year and try to make the best out of the next one. I’m not afraid of aging, though it does make me sad to know a significant percentage of the population thinks a woman’s value is dependent on whether they think she’s fuckable. ‘Inside Amy Schumer’ has a great sketch about this, so I’ve shared it below.
Cristy writes. 