We’re at the point in the year, and decade, where everyone is either looking back at how things have gone or looking ahead trying to guess the future. It seems to be the thing to do.
I thought about doing that. I figured it would help me understand and explain why I didn’t do all the things I thought I was going to do this year. I know I haven’t been as consistent with my posts this year but you’ve heard about nearly all of it, with the exception of the last few weeks. Which I’ll fill you in on in a moment. I was looking for the why of why I didn’t get some things done that I had hoped to. It seems an occupational carry over that I try to fix the “problem” or at least keep it from happening again.
I’ve come to the conclusion that it was a full year. There were a lot of things happen. And at this point, with few exceptions, it doesn’t really matter why. What matters is how I proceed. Do I still want to do those things? How important are they to me? And then I can move forward.
Some things got a little off track due to my choosing to do some prioritization that was different than what I’ve done in the past. I think I mentioned the big project at the day job. I was off on vacation from the day job the week after Thanksgiving. The first week I was back was the week leading up to the big date. I had been hurting really bad in my back, neck and shoulder, and it was even making it hard to play guitar. So since the vacation hadn’t helped that, I chose to not stress myself out trying to do everything I normally would for that week and instead I focused on whatever we needed for the project. This helped. I didn’t stress about not getting to a class or anything like that. I was able to put in the hours that it took without feeling like I was cheated. Because I made getting through that with the least amount of inner turmoil the priority. Turns out, the week after was also pretty full. And I was still hurting.
What I learned about changing my priority for those two weeks, and why I had done it, helped me decide to not push through all the pain and make myself frustrated and miserable trying to do things I generally enjoy doing but were becoming less and less fun because I hurt. The up shot of that is that I’m rusty on my Taekwondo. However. I also finally went to get some help for the pain.
As I mentioned, the pain was making it uncomfortable to play guitar. Not just playing for long periods of time. I was sore from just one or two songs. I have seen the Doctor and I’m now getting physical therapy for the problem. It turns out I have massive knots in muscles that I didn’t realize were muscles. I’m not far into the process so there are things I’m still not able to do, or not sure I should be doing. But it does help me understand where a bunch of that energy to do the fun stuff I like to do went. It went into me trying to maintain my composure.
I was trying to create a holiday card for this year during all this. The amp I modeled was going to be part of it. And as I got the amp done and started working on the other bits I decided that I would forego the card this year and instead focus on getting back to creating things with some quality and style. A couple of the earlier cards I did I am very happy with. Some of the later ones I think could be better. I want to get back to creating things I’m really happy with. I have an idea that I think will be fun to see come to life and I want to do it in a manner I am really proud of and that doesn’t feel like I just patched it together for now. That was another bit of re-prioritizing that I did in the last few weeks.
He wails on the SAX.
And yes, his name is actually Nick.
There were a few things that I did as usual. I made it to the December Blues Jam. It was a good time, as always. We even had a visit from Saint Nick. Or at least his stand in. I finished up the model of the amplifier and I got the new art supplies. Of course I had to try out the new art supplies. As a result I am nearly finished with a nice size piece of art for my dining room.
As for looking forward and what’s next. I’m still working that out. What I know so far is that I have a few things for the day job that I will be working on. Another certification test specifically and learning some new technology. There is the cool project I’ve mentioned. It’s a bit bigger than anything I’ve tackled in 3D so far. It’s going to require some planning and some training. I still intend to play guitar and sing when we have a Blues Jam. That was looking a little shaky a couple of months ago so I don’t know what that will bring. I’ll still be playing though. I’m also still looking for my forever steel string acoustic guitar and I think it may happen soon. Certainly in the next year. I’ve had a nice break from Taekwondo and find that I do miss it. I look forward to getting back to kicking. Hopefully I can take a more measured approach to it and get even more out of it. I’ve enjoyed the latest art projects with the pastels and I want to do more of that this year. As far as travel, I’m thinking about a couple of small, long weekend, type of jaunts. I’m still deciding on my next international destination. There are a couple that are looking interesting. And who knows with the changes at the day job I may find myself in Germany this year. It’s always a possibility.
To be sure, I’ll try to bring you along on some of the adventures, be those get out and see and do things adventures, adventures it art, adventures in music, adventures in technology, or just the adventure that is life. I’ll try to get back some consistency with my posts, though sometimes with a few less pictures, and sometimes maybe a few more.
Here’s to a 2019 that has just about passed. And to a 2020 ahead of us with a full year of possibilities. May the year be everything you hope for and everything you need.