I started writing this post a few days ago but didn't have the motivation to finish it, so it's going to be my end of year and hello 2023 post. A two-in-one special.
It’s always fun to load up the previous year’s end-of-year post to see if I did anything I said I would do. Spoiler: I didn’t. But that’s okay. It’s just how life is sometimes. Life doesn’t have to be a constant state of progress. It would be great if it did.
A related image showed up in my Instagram feed recently:
Coincidence? Or algorithms at work? Probably the latter. That’s just how social media is. It used to where you’d get the latest updates. But if you follow too many accounts, it would be a mess if your feed wasn’t curated. You’d miss many posts that you’d care about.
On the other hand, only being shown posts that you care about creates a feedback loop. You like things, so the algorithm will show you more things it thinks you will like. Eventually, you’re shielded from everything else. This can be a good or bad thing.
Social media feeds are completely made up of what people you follow want you to see. And if these people don’t open up to you, you don’t really know what’s up.
Nobody’s life is perfect, but that doesn’t mean it’s terrible either. Life is a balance of ups and downs; there will be days you love and days you hate, and sometimes your feelings can change within minutes.
2022 was an alright year for me. Overall, I’d say it was a neutral year, kinda like most years. The biggest win for me was my new (now current) job. Doing something I enjoy, working with chill colleagues, and having a positive atmosphere.
It’s been great, don’t get me wrong, but there are downsides too. Check out this table:
| Negatives of my current job | Balancing factor |
|---|---|
| It’s not easy | I’m no longer unemployed and I get to learn new things doing it |
| Lower take home salary (due to taxes and EPF) | I don’t have to make manual prepayments for taxes and my company contributes to EPF |
| No more sleeping in | I have work-life balance |
| Back to the office, terrible traffic jams | I get to spend time outside of the house, also I’m sometimes more productive in the office anyway |
| Expensive parking | Free coffee, fruits and beer in the office |
| It’s tedious to go for smoke breaks | I don’t have to smoke alone, and smoking less is supposedly better for health |
As you can see, even though I my job is great, it’s not without its downsides. But those downsides are neutralized by other factors. So overall, I consider it a win.
In terms of personal projects, this year was bad. I didn’t come up with new music or original YouTube content and haven’t been writing much. And I still haven’t played a live show since the pandemic. However, I’ve somewhat balanced that out by covering songs.
By making cover song videos, I learned to play and sing new songs. I discovered chords I never used. I also gained knowledge and experience in recording and video editing. I’ll be able to make better videos when I eventually create original content in the future.
I had some issues with Facebook Live which gave me a reason to move back to Twitch. It’s sad to say goodbye to all my Facebook Gaming followers, but until they fix their false copyright claim nonsense, I’m not going to bother returning.
I guess that covers what a neutral year for me is like.
To those of you who had a shit year, it’s okay. Look forward to the next one. One shit year doesn’t discount all the good ones you’ve had in the past. And nobody knows what the future holds. In the grand scheme of things, one bad year doesn’t even mean that much.
If you zoom out and look at your whole life, you probably have a lot more good or neutral years than shit ones. It’s just that we tend to remember the bad times more. Life sort of balances itself out that way. Unless you die before that. Then, that’s too bad.
If the year’s been great for you, be prepared for terrible shit to come your way. Or not. You could also die before your life balances out too. Then again, it’s not like you’ll care about what happened in the past once you’re dead. How can you care if you cease to exist?
In any case, while you’re still around, do what makes you happy. It’s your life.
Since we’re on the topic of the new year, I’ve got some goals for myself. Public goals to hold myself accountable.
- Fully migrate this blog to goodnewsgeorge.com and give it a facelift
- Post 12 blog posts (not counting this)
- Create 6 YouTube videos
- Record a 6-song EP
- Play 12 shows
- Create 12 pieces of original art
- Go back down to 70kg and un-tighten my pants
We’ll come back to this post in December and see how far we’ve gotten. Happy New Year everyone. Hopefully, this year will be better than the last.
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