Hi guys,
How are you? I really hope you’re doing well.
At the end of every year, I try to sit down and think about the past year, my blog and what I want to do in the coming year. It’s a little ritual that I cap off by writing a letter to all of you. It’s usually a little confusing and unclear because I’m a bit of a confused person but it’s still dear to me. I like taking this time to center myself and to talk for a moment with you all. Even if it is in this somewhat one-sided way. I think we can get to connect a bit through comments.
Last year when I wrote this post, I remember thinking boy, 2020 was a tough year. And it was. Not for me specifically but just in general. It was an unprecedented calamity. The world was literally on fire and we had a global plague on our hands. Let’s face it, things had to get better, they just did.
Except not really… 2021 has been a bit better, I think. I should mention that I’m an extremely introverted person and I have been generally enjoying confinement. I hope to keep it up for as long as I can. But I’m not enjoying what it’s doing to others. I think we got a little better at dealing with it this year but I’m not sure.
I was hoping that this would bring us closer together. That seeing millions of people die would naturally push us to cooperate and care about our fellow man. But some people are still adamantly and very vocally refusing to take any safety precautions at all, even in large cities that have declared that they are officially out of pediatric hospital beds for the first time in history.
But I’m getting lost in sadness. That’s not what you’re here for and it’s not what I’m here for either. Because you can’t let the few drag you down. And it’s not over. Sooner or later we will get out of this. Maybe we’ll find a more powerful vaccine to completely irradicate it or a drug that renders it a bit more trivial. Maybe herd immunity will finally kick in or we’ll adjust to living in isolation. Either way, if we look out for each other, we’ll get through it.
And you know what, 2022 is here now. It’s a new day. And I can try to be better than I was in 2021. I can try to be more understanding and more patient. I can muster the courage and energy to stand up for what I believe and go to bed just a little proud of myself.
And as silly as it may sound, both this blog and anime are a part of that for me. Not the deep political beliefs or anything. This blog is about drinking games and watching pretty moving colours. That’s way too profound and important to sully with silly little politics.
But you see, watching anime and talking to you all about it makes me happy. It brings a little entertainment and joy into my life. I giggle alongside characters and then share jokes with my readers and just like that, my day had some laughter in it. I cry because I’m a crybaby and desperately try to convey my emotions on a page, miraculously someone out there gets it. They tell me they had the same experience or maybe that they had a completely different one but still they share something with me. And I get a bit more empathic. If I’m lucky and smart enough I might even learn something that day.
Writing, even if it’s just silly little shallow posts, is an introspective exercise that helps me figure out who I am and who I want to be. And I find that the readers along the way make that exercise a little easier and way more interesting and rewarding.
So now, after being a bit beaten down for a long time, I’m going to try to figure out who I want to be in 2022.
As far as this blog is concerned, I want to be more appreciative. I have made such amazing friends through this blog. There are people that I have now exchanged thoughts with on a very regular basis for years. That’s amazing! I may not know their real names but there’s no way I won’t consider them friends. And there are new people who I look forward to reading their thoughts each time they drop by. I get excited to see they have commented on something. And even when we disagree, it’s always a great convo.
That’s always been the best part about having a blog for me. And sometimes I lose sight of it. I start fretting about analytics, I get offers for paid advertisement and start thinking maybe I should finally monetize. I start putting time and energy into aspects that really don’t have anything to do with the anime or you guys. And I realized that it doesn’t really make me happy. I’m too lazy and too busy to really enjoy shows I watch and earnestly try to share them with you while also turning my blog into a business. Any blogger that can manage it has my respect. I just can’t seem to do one side without making the other side suffer.
So instead of going off in 100 different directions because I’ve gotten a bit weary and everyone is a bit stir crazy, I’m going to remember what I loved about blogging in the first place. I miss my friends that have moved one, but I love the new ones I have made along the way. And at the end of the day, if I start a new series that gets my heart racing and has me staring wide-eyed and slack-jawed in awe at my screen, I really want to be able to share it with you all. I want to extend that precious experience by trying to bottle some of that magic on the page. It might not always work and maybe you guys won’t always be interested in the shows I like (‘cmon, boy idol shows are brilliant!) but as long as we all have a little bit of fun it’s a success.
I talked a lot about myself here. Like I said, I’m very introverted, also I’m pretty resilient and very privileged. I have to figure that if I’m feeling a little ragged, some of you guys must have it much worse. And that really does make me sad. For what it’s worth, I hope from the bottom of my heart that 2022 will be better for each of you. For all of us really. I hope that you will discover a passion, old or new. That you will find some peace and regain motivation. That you’ll magically stumble onto a recipe that’s pretty easy to make and the most delicious thing in the world and not even that bad for your health!
I hope that next year when I write this post, I can tell all of you, WOW 2022 was an amazing year wasn’t it? And I’m going to work hard to make that come true.
Thank you so much for making a rough year better.
