It’s been a while

I have a friend who writes every day, shares every day, and uplifts those around her every day with her writing. I often wonder at this friend’s consistency, tenacity, and dedication – more than that, I am envious (not in a negative way by any means) and impressed at her output and her projects. She is, after all, a writer. More than once have wished I had her work ethic and her discipline, that I would follow with the same level of dedication to produce at least one essay a month. Alas, life and other excuses happened this past year.

It’s been a while since I have written anything here.

It’s been a while since I felt I could without ranting.

Enough people are ranting. I need not tell you why. You know. We are sharing in the collective heartbreak and trauma.

Life and other excuses

Last year at this time I made the fateful decision to sell my home of 26 years. Woo boy! I think the last time I wrote to you all, the first offer fell through. I stopped writing about the home sale experience after that. I dropped the price three times, and sold for even less. The entire experience was depressing, disheartening and in many ways, painful. Yesterday, the sales journey finally came to an end. My cute old house is now someone else’s. The mortgage is paid off. All that is left are final utility bills. So why did I wake up with a clenched jaw and a headache this morning?

It’s been a while since I shared anything at all. Last year was a shit show. Work was a struggle. Selling the house was a struggle. Hell, preparing the house to sell was a struggle. I questioned my sanity and life choices at every hurdle and setback. About the only thing I was clear about was the path I was on. One way to ensure no regrets is to make the experience so heart-wrenching that you don’t look back.

And here we are

Globally, it looks like this year’s shit show will be worse. The value of the dollar against the Euro continues to tank. (Thanks, Mango Mussolini) When I find my French retirement home, it will cost that much more. What is the lesson here? Adjust expectations? Assume that I will get less for more money? Seems to be a recurring theme.

I don’t believe in new year resolutions, per se. But I started the year by hitting the library. I’m reading a book a week. And I am finally here, writing. It’s been too cold to walk outside, so I’m substituting one thing for another. I’m working on pacing myself – with work, with obligations, with projects that suck the life out of a person, with channeling outrage at the regime.

I’m also at the stage of no hustle. Maybe it’s my age, or maybe the state of the world. Could be that my brain is fried from 2025. Had to ask myself if it was a bad thing to not want to be any part of the hustle culture. Is it bad that I don’t want to achieve great things? I don’t even want to pretend that I want to achieve great things. Social media is part of my job, so I am on LinkedIn a lot. It is full to the brim with earnestness – and people who (or want to) achieve great things. Is it bad that most of it feels performative to me? I am deeply suspicious of most of what is posted there. I guess I am over hustle.

What’s next?

It’s been a while since I wrote about my kids, and I think this will be a good year for them. One of them is building a successful sales career (while being an absolute fool about money, but live and learn), one is buying a house and just got engaged while performing gigs around her town, and one is still figuring it out while creating game and video music tracks. They’re all just doing what we all do – figuring it out as they go. My only hope is that, as they are in this stage of life, they really enjoy themselves, despite what the world is throwing at them.

I hope that we survive this horrific era we are living through and that it is over soon.

I hope that I find uplifting things I can share through my writing and that I emulate my friend this year, and write more.

I also hope to not hustle. At all. For anything. About the only thing that warrants any effort from me this year is trying to save our country and our rights.

I hope that you stay grounded, in spite of the dumpster fire, and that 2026 doesn’t suck the life out of you, either.

It’s been a while but hopefully won’t be too long until next time.