Life lessons, new skills, and even actual cleaning tips—I learned a lot of great things this year to bring forward with me! Thus my 2023 wrap-up begins my blog in 2024, where I plan to share more of myself, not just post my portfolio.
Artistic expression!
Inking/colouring with a digital pen is a vast improvement over IRL for a lefty. I assumed I’d be just as mucky sketching on touch screens as paper. Not so! If my palm rests and marks the page, I can undo instead of starting over…and even erase lefty smudges from uploaded IRL art.
Auto functions are amazing time-saver investments for visual editing. No matter how efficient I get at repeating manual steps, learning a new function once is always less effort. Sure, I can snap to guides, but first I have to calculate and set up all my guides…”align” is way faster, and repeatable.
Creativity should be shared. If I want to get something out of life, I have to put something of myself into it first, not just hide away what I make. To be alive is to create, and since I don’t want to create life, stories and stickers will do. 2023 kicked off a big project in finding the right platforms for sharing my creativity and interacting with my community.
Cleaning efficiency!
Bodies do not “forget how to do it” by using accessibility aids. Just because I can get by doesn’t mean I must. I absolutely love battery powered scrub brushes. I have a small Rubbermaid one and plan to get the Ryobi next. Even if you don’t have arthritis, I’d recommend trying them if you hate cleaning your bathroom but want it to be clean.
Each little step helps. Wiping down the sink after each time I do dishes means not having to scrub it as soon (just like rinsing the tub and curtain after each shower keeps down soap residue). Sometimes efficiency is not tips or tricks, it’s rethinking. The sink doesn’t have to be visibly dirty to be worth cleaning. Problems don’t have to be huge before I solve them.
Personal growth!
“All or nothing” is not a virtue. Moderation can (and should) apply to my self-expectations not just my self-indulgences. Doing everything needed acceptably is better than doing only those things I can do perfectly.
Asking for help is hard, doing everything myself is harder. Sometimes the challenge is worth it, but sometimes ease is worth the ding to stubborn pride.
“Not hurting anyone” is a base state—not actively being a bad person does not make me a good one. Being careful of how I express my opinions is good, but not expressing my opinions in case I’m misconstrued isn’t good, it’s hiding.
Professional direction!
Being good at something isn’t enough for success. Lots of people are good at the same things, but no one else is good at all the same things as me—that’s the niche to discover.
Writer’s block is powerless against actually wanting to explore an idea. If I can’t enjoy what I’m writing, I shouldn’t focus on it at the expense of fun stuff just because I think others expect it.
I wrote more this year and reached more people creating what I wanted than I did over the last decade of writing for a salary. So, more to come in the new year, here, there, and everywhere!
I feel like you just wrote about my life discoveries (but for the lefty stuff)
Thanks for the powered scrub brush idea! Checking it out!
Hope the power brushes are as useful for you as I’ve found them. I love my gadgets, so when they improve my life instead of just being fun it’s even better!