Feminist gaming blog with a heaping dash of science and politics
2013 was a pretty turbulent year for me. This time last year I was stuck in a dead-end, low-paying job in the middle of nowhere California. I was trying to claw my way up to a better position, but each time I tried to branch out I got kicked back down. In March my husband (who was also having a helluva time but that’s his story to tell) and I decided that we’d had enough and it was time to move on. So we packed up (most of) our shit and high tailed it to Seattle (I just realized that’s like a deer metaphor).
Quick! We must go to Seattle!
Anyways, the trip up here and the months afterwards were rough. Very rough. Heck, its still rough. Between cars breaking down (and I do mean multiple cars breaking down multiple times), dogs getting attacked (everyone lived, no worries), unexpected abdominal surgeries and rolled ankles(pro tip: try not to have both people in a marriage bed ridden at the same time), secondary moves (to get the rest of our stuff), and the general chaos of transitioning to a new city, apartment complex, lifestyle, and job, I find myself somewhat surprised to still be standing here today. Granted I am technically sitting at the moment.
It was tough, but it was good for us, good for me. I’ve been stressed out this past year, but I’ve also handled more and more stressful things this year than in the past and dealt with it all with better grace, humor, and maturity than I ever expected of myself. I am pleased with that, and with the opportunities I have had up here and that I will get to have this coming year.
Speaking of 2014, I’ve made some resolutions for myself. Maybe resolution isn’t the best word, perhaps goals or general paths I’d like to take.
1) Be more primal: For the past year or so I’ve been toying around with primal/paleo eating and living. I enjoy eating that way and I feel super healthy and just generally all-around better. I slept better, my stress levels were more stable, it eased my depressive bouts, my seasonal allergies were lessended, I hardly ever got sick, and I was able to finally gain some real mastery over some of my chronic health problems. And yes I lost some weight, but that was just tasty primal icing on the big, juicy primal steak of health (icing on steak? I think that metaphor got away from me). But I always approached it as a ‘diet’. I’d ‘fall off the wagon’ and then binge eat all the ‘bad stuff’ before going back to primal eating. Which is less healthy than just eating normal non-primal 24/7. This year I want to approach and embrace primal as a lifestyle change, but to accept that a part of being healthy and being truly primal is to not stress out when I eat a donut or a bowl of pasta.
2) I want to write more: I might finally buy a full wordpress site so I can tinker with the settings. I want to integrate my tumblring and tweeting (and I want to get back to tweeting) with my blogging. I want to learn how to write smaller posts (she says as she passes the 500 word mark) right alongside my larger essays. I want to branch out and write about more: primal lifestyle, personal posts, feminism, gaming, politics, science, pop culture, movies, tv shows, random products that I like, etc.
and 3) be kinder to myself: I am my own toughest critic. When it comes to writing, to cooking, to cleaning, to relationships, to work, to exercise, to just existing. I am really tough on myself. This year I want to practice radical self-acceptance, self-love, and self-care. And this hold true for the first two of my goals too. It will help me meet the goals and to keep me from abandoning them because I have a bad week. I will treat myself to nice things and not beat myself up when I fall short of my goals for the day or the week or the year.
And to wrap up this post here are some of the other things I’m looking forward to in 2014: the return of Sleepy Hollow, Almost Human, and Elementary on TV; the next Hunger Games movie, the Avenger movies, and season of Game of Thrones; Everquest Next Landmark (and EQ Next proper if it comes out in 2014 which is doubtful) and Elder Scrolls Online; and seeing what all Seattle has to offer when you’re not busy trying to land and stabilize in a new job and apartment.
I hope that those who had a bad 2013 have a better 2014 and for those who had a great 2013 I hope 2014 continues the upswing!
Zaewen 
Glad to hear that your move to Seattle was a good one for you, and best wishes on all your goals for 2014! 🙂
The last one about being kind to yourself is a really great one. It’s something that I don’t practice nearly as much with myself, and I should remind myself about it more often.
Yea. Being mindful of the things I say to myself in my head the past couple of days I’ve realized I’m much more forgiving of stupid stuff other people do (even if it negatively impacts me) but beat myself up for the tiniest things.
Moving can be traumatic but it can also be therapeutic. Traumatic – you’ve experienced that first hand – the therapeutic part happens if you let it. A Spring Cleaning (no matter the season) of your belongings – do I really want to move this {fill in the blank} given to me by my Great Aunt Bertha (or whom ever) again?!? Also a Spring Cleaning of sorts for your head – in your old place of residence – you had a routine – which can become a rut that you are stuck in. With a new residence this can change as well. My advise is go site-seeing – get out of the house on your day off – find one thing in Seattle to see / explore. I lived for 23 years in the town I grew up. There are so many things I have not seen simply because I was from them and well could go see {fill in the blank} later or it was assumed that I had already seen it. Now we go and do the site-seeing – an hour or a long weekend for trips further afield.
About the being good to yourself. Do it! When you like the person you see looking back at you from the mirror – your whole world is brighter.
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