Due to the suggestion of a social media expert, I wanted to share this post that I originally had on my Facebook. I am not one to question experts, so here it is: My good friend, Laena, has done a thing at the end of the last few years of highlighting some of the good things in their life as "a way for me to remember and reflect on the good, and keep me hopeful and driven for the year ahead."
I appreciate that sentiment and would like to share some of the good things for me in 2020.
1) Because I have not been able to perform as much this year, the flip side to that is that there has been more opportunity to rest and not have to be "on" all the time. I've gotten to do other things I like and not feel like I have to choose between as many really things. There's a weird blessing in that. (Although, I do look forward to performing again)
2) I left a job with the most toxic manager I've ever worked with and now work is not something actively harming my mental health.
3) CERB was a godsend. It not only kept me financially steady during an uncertain time, but it distinctly helped reduce my debt. It also highlighted the benefits of a social safety net and hopefully Canadians remember that and continue to push away from the poison of unfettered capitalism.
4) Odd Wednesday had such a fun show early in the year where many of the different sketch groups performed each other's sketches and added their unique flavour to sketches we had seen before. Watching Ms. Perfect Boy make an existential nightmare out of Girl Brain sketches was wonderful. I can't wait to do it again.
5) I've been running a D&D campaign with two different groups that follows the tale of generations of heroes over the course of 500 years with different genres and scenarios throughout and because of various podcasts like Hook and Chance, Adventuring Academy with Brennan Lee Mulligan, and Matt Colville's YouTube channel, I have found and develop a dungeon master style that allows me to better lead a game that is open to player choice and influence. It's been a lot of fun and very rewarding. Plus it is with good friends.
6) Sudokus with weird, kinky rules has lit up my brain over quarantine.
7) I am happy with the Filliam Crowe videos I made over the year. I don't know how to market the character or the videos, but I still really liked spending time as the character who is unendingly positive and silly.
8) I've taken distinct steps to try and address my mental health and I think it's been going well.
9) "Soul" was the right kind of movie that has given me a renewed inspiration to be present and live life and not get caught up in this unhelpful idea that you need to accomplish something great or specific goals for your life to not be wasted.
10) Funny enough, while everyone else's Christmas' seemed to be upended and "ruined" or not very traditional, mine on the other hand, was probably the most traditional one I've had in a long time. I made classic Christmas dishes and served it in my home and everyone else was on the same footing as me as opposed to other years where I feel like an outsider at someone else's traditional family gathering. It was great.
11) I've come to appreciate the evil that is the owning class earning money off others simply because they own things. It has inspired me to have more compassion for those who Jesus favoured in this modern context. If we are to help the poor, the sick, and the oppressed, then we need to change the dynamic and this year has given me more to think about and identified the problem.
12) Gus Johnson makes funny videos and I'm glad I discovered him this year.
13) The video game Hades was a gift given to me and it has been a wonderfully unexpected boon to me.
14) I've gotten to have many calls and video chats with people over the year and especially over the 12 days of Christmas as I seek to spend more time with people that mean a lot to me.
15) This list was longer than I thought it was going to be.
16) Finally, the fact that I got to spend time with Jim this year. Jim was the grandpa of my friends Jamie and Michelle and last November I started to go visit Jim and keep him company at his care home. I got to know him and had a good time connecting with this new friend. Obviously, that stopped when the quarantine rules came into play and sadly, he passed away recently. I won't be able to visit my buddy anymore, but I loved the chance to know him for a little while.
There were still many good things in this year and I hope that there will be many more in the year to come.
"Let me go
I don't wanna be your hero
I don't wanna be a big man
I just wanna fight with everyone else"
- "Hero" from the Family of the Year album "Our Songbook" (This song was in my top 10 of Spotify tracks for the year)
I don't wanna be your hero
I don't wanna be a big man
I just wanna fight with everyone else"
- "Hero" from the Family of the Year album "Our Songbook" (This song was in my top 10 of Spotify tracks for the year)
