In Which Our Heroine Reflects On The Value Of Inspiration, Joy, and Connection

I had about a bazillion thoughts to share with you over the past months, but life got busy and I fell into the trap of wanting to make my Blog Entry just perfect and then I got distracted and had a bit of an anxiety attack (I’m feeling better now, thank you) and now it’s 2023 and I never got around to writing that Perfect Post.

So you get this instead.

I was reading over my Other Blog (Ovis Obscura: Where There’s Wool, There’s A Way) and I noticed something: I wrote that blog much more like I wrote my Livejournal back in the day. It feels natural and unplanned, like I’m just talking to you about what’s going on in my life. It feels personal. I liked that, and I miss it.

I tried to make this blog more planned, more polished. I still want it to include Useful Things like Tutorials and Reviews Of Things I Love, but I also think it’s important to include personal things and to write when I want to write, not wait until I can assemble a Beautiful Essay. (Though I’ll admit that I want to present you with a few of those, too.)

Being able to write when inspiration hits is important. And that’s something I want to carry forward into 2023. I think I overplan, and guess what? That feeds into my anxiety! Joy. (Sarcasm here, in case that wasn’t obvious.)

A friend of mine posted this article to her Book of Faces this morning, and it definitely helped inspire this train of thought: The Verge: Bring Back Personal Blogging. One of the Many Things I’m doing to Marie Kondo My Life in 2023 is leaving Twitter. It has served its purpose in my life, and it no longer sparks joy. And that’s okay! Twitter and role playing with friends on that platform got me through some tough times, especially in 2019 – 2022. (I would argue that was a rough time for most people.) I did love Twitter as a way of getting my thoughts out there, and the character limit was a fun writing challenge. But now? It’s Back To The Blog. I’m keeping those friendships in other formats and on other platforms, but the Blog is going to be my Main Channel For Shouting Into The Void.

Well, not quite into the Void. After all, you’re all out there.

It’s been a rough year. I’m glad you’re here.

I hope to be here more often.

2023 will be a better year, I hope, if only because I’m on the lookout for the good stuff. I’m going to try to be kind, to myself and to others, and to give myself grace when I fail or don’t remember to do everything or just mess up a little bit. (I’m really good at beating myself up! I’d like to actually get worse at that.)

In conclusion (for now), here’s something I posted to my Tumblr. I wish this for you, me, and everybody.

A Wish For All Of You In 2023:

May you find peace with yourself and with others.
May Kindness and Love find you and spring from you.
May you recognize Perfect Moments, and may they stay in your memory for when you need them again.
May this year spark joy.