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Daryl Sun's Journal

Special Edition — Retrospection and Intentions, 2023 Edition

TL;DR: If 2023 was my year of creation, then what will 2024 be?

This post was submitted as part of the 32-Bit Cafe 2023 Holiday Blog Carnival.

Reflect on 2023 and/or what's to come. Perhaps you'd like to share some highlights of 2023 or look forward to intentions or goals you have for the new year. On your blog, write a post or poem to join in on the fun.

32-Bit Cafe

32-Bit Cafe's 2023 Holiday Blog Carnival

It's over a week since New Year's Eve, yet it feels like 2023 still has its hooks in me: projects unfinished, plans that fell through, goals dropped. But what's done is done: I can't rewind time, no matter how much I want to slap Past Me silly. All I can do now is learn from the past and prepare for the future.

First, here's a quick recap of everything I've accomplished (or failed to do so) last year:

I joined omg.lol near the end of March, though I didn't start blogging until mid-May. What good timing: I got my laptop back in June!
After years of lurking, I officially joined the Indieweb community in June. I also started joining web revival-adjacent communities such as MelonLand and 32-Bit Cafe in July.
I became interested in learning toki pona in June, though my self-education stalled around July and hasn't recovered as of this writing.
I discovered virtual pets in September, and got quickly addicted.
I taught myself how to make pixel art on the fly during November, and began designing my own pieces for submission to various pixel clubs.

I probably forgot to include several other things in this list, but these were the ones that stood out the most to me.

From these highlights, I can conclude that 2023 was a year of change and creation for me. Previously, all I did was lurk and consume content. But despite my Biology degree and my HR job, I'm a creative at heart. At the start of the year, there was this restlessness in me, like an itch I couldn't scratch, and only by starting this blog did that restlessness go away. Instead, it got replaced by wanderlust, a desire to learn and improve, a wonder for messily beautiful things.

Sure, hosting this blog took a dent (okay, several dents) to my wallet, but I don't regret a single peso. After all, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Also, knowing that my money goes to supporting other people makes me feel happy.

But now that 2023 is over what's next for me? Here are some ideas:

Continue my goal of building a cozy emergency fund. I was close to achieving my set goal last year, but still fell short. Hopefully this year I'll complete it.
Find a new way to host the Gemini mirror of my blog. While I like smol.pub for being simple and easy to use, I don't have complete control over the files and their structure, so I can't upload Gemini versions of older blog posts. I hope to host a gemlog that mirrors all of my weblog.lol posts past, present, and future.
Finish the flashcard set on toki pona. I'll set the scheduling so I only have to review 10 new cards each day, which will hopefully be easier for me to handle.
Finish at least one nonfiction book from the library that I've accumulated from Humble Bundle.
Find a podcast I like and listen to it for at least one episode a month for the rest of the year.

I might think of other goals later, but for now, here are my foremost priorities.

I'll be honest: I'm notoriously terrible with New Year's resolutions. However, maybe this time, they'll stick. Who knows what will happen? I feel rather good about this upcoming year.

(Side note: My mom did tell me that this year is good for those born under my Eastern astrological sign... but I don't really believe in astrology. Thanks, Mom, anyway...?)

Now it's time for me to carry on like a wayward daughter. Hello, 2024, how are you?

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