2016 Retrospective, 2017 Goals
Dec. 30th, 2016 07:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chuckro2016 Retrospective:
Not much has changed, really?
1. The big one, as per usual: Be a good father, a good husband, a good friend and a good employee. Try to keep emergency room visits, fights, disappointments, and risk of being fired to a minimum.
This seemed to go pretty well. I’m not going to say I was perfect, but especially with a little help from Sertraline, I’ve managed a lot of patience and less anxiety, and I think I’ve had a decent attention span for things and people that needed tending to.
2. Do at least one big “performance” thing: Something on the order of one of the murder mystery plays, Inception, being a con speaker, or Kinkstarter. It doesn’t have to be big, but I want to do something that puts me in front of an audience.
I did the Attic Ensemble murder mystery again, and was neither the killer nor the victim for the first time in a while.
3. Finish at least one of my long-outstanding personal projects: Post more of my rpg writing, try building a video game, learn some guitar chords, get back into knitting, write more stories or LPs. Virtually all of these are, “Learn or refine a skill,” and that’s the real meat of the goal.
I taught myself several one-handed baton twirls, which I’ve wanted to be able to do since I was like 7. I’ve known two-handed flag twirls since college, but now I can mix-and-match.
Also, Ben helped me turn my old PC into an emulator LakkaBox; and I learned some valuable things about my sexuality and my kinks this year.
4. General self-care (beyond just mental health): Keep tabs on myself, make sure I’m eating well and getting regular exercise, allow myself opportunities to vent and recover, pursue things that actively make me happy. My weight has ticked up in the last six months and I’d like to get it back to normal; and as ARR isn’t bulimia baby any more I should resume wearing nicer shirts and cuff links.
I went on a calorie-counting diet over the summer which got my weight (and more importantly, belt size) down below 2015 levels. I bought a bunch of new shirts and pants and have started clearing out old ones. I also discovered that, for the first time ever in my life, I can do a pull-up. Apparently my lifting regime (up to 35 flailing-and-kicking pounds now) has done some good. I also bought a stationary bike (in addition to my real bike, which I ride to work almost every day), so I can burn calories absentmindedly while watching Netflix.
5. Relationship care: Make sure that Jethrien and I have time to do things—and just enjoy the time—together as a couple. Have date nights and vacations/staycations away from ARR, but also get better about enjoying each other even when we’re dealing with him and are exhausted. Be mindful of her rhythms rather than being irritated when she doesn’t match mine.
I think we’ve done pretty well. We went to Montreal last winter and Chicago for our ten-year anniversary; we got to a number of concerts, movies and cons together; we’ve made time to watch and play things together; and we’ve generally been on an even keel.
6. Continue to have regular social activities; maintain new and old social ties with people near and far. Make sure I get time with both groups and 1-on-1, with and without ARR, and with and without Jethrien. I want to make sure I get together with people outside of our regular circle, and given my druthers, I’d like to attend at least one con, at least one play, and at least one concert.
I attended three cons, three plays and four concerts, if I’m tallying correctly. We took ARR to Philcon and he actually really enjoyed the games room. We had a number of parties and took a few trips, and I made a few new friends to add to my social circle.
7. Consume media, but try to remain sensible about not struggling through things I don’t enjoy. There’s plenty of good stuff on the shelf and not enough time to read/watch/play everything. And spend more time on enjoyable media and less on soul-crushing social media / pseudo-news scare pieces.
I think I did a very good job here: We finally broke down and subscribed to Netflix, which gave me access to a bunch of things I had been interested in for a while, and also some things I probably would have bought the DVDs for otherwise. As noted in my books post, I shattered my previous post-college record for books read in a year. I probably spent more time in KEMCO shovelware rpgs than is necessarily healthy, but they amused me. And I was good about culling off things I wasn’t actually enjoying.
2017 Goals:
The specifics are edited from last year, but the generalities are the same.
1. Be a good father, a good husband, a good friend and a good employee. Try to keep emergency room visits, fights, disappointments, and risk of being fired to a minimum.
2. Do at least one big “performance” thing: It looks like I-Con may be reviving this year; I should contact them about being on panels. If there’s a murder mystery again in the fall, I should do it. I don’t think this will be the year I join a theater troupe, but I’ll be keeping my eyes open and we’ll see which activities ARR gets particularly excited about.
3. Finish at least one of my long-outstanding personal projects: Post more of my rpg writing, try building a video game, learn some guitar chords, get back into knitting, write more stories or LPs. Virtually all of these are, “Learn or refine a skill,” and that’s the real meat of the goal. In 2016 I ended up adding something to the list and completing that instead, but if I end up learning to meditate or doing a father-son karate class, that’s okay too.
4. Self-care: Keep tabs on myself, make sure I’m eating well and getting regular exercise, allow myself opportunities to vent and recover, pursue things that actively make me happy. Keep up with managing my weight, flossing, and wearing my nice clothes. Explore my new interests, try attending a few new events.
5. Relationship care: Make sure that Jethrien and I have time to do things—and just enjoy the time—together as a couple. Have date nights and vacations/staycations away from ARR, but also get better about enjoying each other even when we’re dealing with him and are exhausted. Find ways to give her time to pursue her goals for the year while I pursue mine.
6. Continue to have regular social activities; maintain new and old social ties with people near and far. Make sure I get time with both groups and 1-on-1, with and without ARR, and with and without Jethrien. By the same token, I’d like to start trying to set up social activities that are both “for” us and ARR—the trip to Sesame Place and the Halloween party were very good steps in this direction, for instance.
7. Consume media, but try to remain sensible about not struggling through things I don’t enjoy. There’s plenty of good stuff on the shelf and not enough time to read/watch/play everything. And spend more time on enjoyable media and less on soul-crushing social media / pseudo-news scare pieces.
Not much has changed, really?
1. The big one, as per usual: Be a good father, a good husband, a good friend and a good employee. Try to keep emergency room visits, fights, disappointments, and risk of being fired to a minimum.
This seemed to go pretty well. I’m not going to say I was perfect, but especially with a little help from Sertraline, I’ve managed a lot of patience and less anxiety, and I think I’ve had a decent attention span for things and people that needed tending to.
2. Do at least one big “performance” thing: Something on the order of one of the murder mystery plays, Inception, being a con speaker, or Kinkstarter. It doesn’t have to be big, but I want to do something that puts me in front of an audience.
I did the Attic Ensemble murder mystery again, and was neither the killer nor the victim for the first time in a while.
3. Finish at least one of my long-outstanding personal projects: Post more of my rpg writing, try building a video game, learn some guitar chords, get back into knitting, write more stories or LPs. Virtually all of these are, “Learn or refine a skill,” and that’s the real meat of the goal.
I taught myself several one-handed baton twirls, which I’ve wanted to be able to do since I was like 7. I’ve known two-handed flag twirls since college, but now I can mix-and-match.
Also, Ben helped me turn my old PC into an emulator LakkaBox; and I learned some valuable things about my sexuality and my kinks this year.
4. General self-care (beyond just mental health): Keep tabs on myself, make sure I’m eating well and getting regular exercise, allow myself opportunities to vent and recover, pursue things that actively make me happy. My weight has ticked up in the last six months and I’d like to get it back to normal; and as ARR isn’t bulimia baby any more I should resume wearing nicer shirts and cuff links.
I went on a calorie-counting diet over the summer which got my weight (and more importantly, belt size) down below 2015 levels. I bought a bunch of new shirts and pants and have started clearing out old ones. I also discovered that, for the first time ever in my life, I can do a pull-up. Apparently my lifting regime (up to 35 flailing-and-kicking pounds now) has done some good. I also bought a stationary bike (in addition to my real bike, which I ride to work almost every day), so I can burn calories absentmindedly while watching Netflix.
5. Relationship care: Make sure that Jethrien and I have time to do things—and just enjoy the time—together as a couple. Have date nights and vacations/staycations away from ARR, but also get better about enjoying each other even when we’re dealing with him and are exhausted. Be mindful of her rhythms rather than being irritated when she doesn’t match mine.
I think we’ve done pretty well. We went to Montreal last winter and Chicago for our ten-year anniversary; we got to a number of concerts, movies and cons together; we’ve made time to watch and play things together; and we’ve generally been on an even keel.
6. Continue to have regular social activities; maintain new and old social ties with people near and far. Make sure I get time with both groups and 1-on-1, with and without ARR, and with and without Jethrien. I want to make sure I get together with people outside of our regular circle, and given my druthers, I’d like to attend at least one con, at least one play, and at least one concert.
I attended three cons, three plays and four concerts, if I’m tallying correctly. We took ARR to Philcon and he actually really enjoyed the games room. We had a number of parties and took a few trips, and I made a few new friends to add to my social circle.
7. Consume media, but try to remain sensible about not struggling through things I don’t enjoy. There’s plenty of good stuff on the shelf and not enough time to read/watch/play everything. And spend more time on enjoyable media and less on soul-crushing social media / pseudo-news scare pieces.
I think I did a very good job here: We finally broke down and subscribed to Netflix, which gave me access to a bunch of things I had been interested in for a while, and also some things I probably would have bought the DVDs for otherwise. As noted in my books post, I shattered my previous post-college record for books read in a year. I probably spent more time in KEMCO shovelware rpgs than is necessarily healthy, but they amused me. And I was good about culling off things I wasn’t actually enjoying.
2017 Goals:
The specifics are edited from last year, but the generalities are the same.
1. Be a good father, a good husband, a good friend and a good employee. Try to keep emergency room visits, fights, disappointments, and risk of being fired to a minimum.
2. Do at least one big “performance” thing: It looks like I-Con may be reviving this year; I should contact them about being on panels. If there’s a murder mystery again in the fall, I should do it. I don’t think this will be the year I join a theater troupe, but I’ll be keeping my eyes open and we’ll see which activities ARR gets particularly excited about.
3. Finish at least one of my long-outstanding personal projects: Post more of my rpg writing, try building a video game, learn some guitar chords, get back into knitting, write more stories or LPs. Virtually all of these are, “Learn or refine a skill,” and that’s the real meat of the goal. In 2016 I ended up adding something to the list and completing that instead, but if I end up learning to meditate or doing a father-son karate class, that’s okay too.
4. Self-care: Keep tabs on myself, make sure I’m eating well and getting regular exercise, allow myself opportunities to vent and recover, pursue things that actively make me happy. Keep up with managing my weight, flossing, and wearing my nice clothes. Explore my new interests, try attending a few new events.
5. Relationship care: Make sure that Jethrien and I have time to do things—and just enjoy the time—together as a couple. Have date nights and vacations/staycations away from ARR, but also get better about enjoying each other even when we’re dealing with him and are exhausted. Find ways to give her time to pursue her goals for the year while I pursue mine.
6. Continue to have regular social activities; maintain new and old social ties with people near and far. Make sure I get time with both groups and 1-on-1, with and without ARR, and with and without Jethrien. By the same token, I’d like to start trying to set up social activities that are both “for” us and ARR—the trip to Sesame Place and the Halloween party were very good steps in this direction, for instance.
7. Consume media, but try to remain sensible about not struggling through things I don’t enjoy. There’s plenty of good stuff on the shelf and not enough time to read/watch/play everything. And spend more time on enjoyable media and less on soul-crushing social media / pseudo-news scare pieces.
