What can I say about 2020?  It started me off with with some costly home maintenance issues, added in car repairs, and just as that was getting itself resolved, tossed in a virus and closed the world down. I learned things about other people and their viewpoints that I would never have expected, and I realized I’m not as big of a hermit as I’d always thought because I missed being able to go out and just sit quietly in a bookstore reading or people watching.

Still, this past year was not a total dumpster fire, there were many good moments.  I found a lot of ways to enjoy myself without needing to go out. I spent more time listening to music and discovered new artists to obsess over, I worked on my Minecraft building skills, and I managed to follow a much healthier eating plan and drop quite a bit of weight that had been aggravating my back. (We won’t discuss what the holidays have done to that eating plan…)

I also spent time rediscovering how much I love taking photos, both in Second Life and IRL. I realized I had let my creativity fall by the wayside because I saw so many other people doing the things I loved to do, but doing it so much better than me, that I decided I probably shouldn’t do the things. I still haven’t fully managed to knock the idea out of my head that just because someone else is good at photography (or drawing, or crafts) it doesn’t mean that I should throw in the towel, because there’s not a quota for how many people are allowed to do art. Kind of a hard belief to shake, it’s lived in my head for a few decades now, but I’m working on it.

So here we are, in 2021.  I don’t usually make New Year resolutions, but I will try to make this my year to do the creative things. Write more. Do more art. Make the things.

Happy New Year, friends.  May you have success with whatever resolutions you make, and may this year bring us love, joy, laughter, and healing.

♥