What a year.
What a year it has been (and it’s only been a month).
I had big plans at the beginning of December 2024. I had spent most of November effectively disassociating, easing out of that period around Thanksgiving. Then, my birthday came and went on the first of December, and it was lovely. I tend to feel pretty energized during Sagittarius season, and this time was no different…until my mom’s birthday (God rest her soul), on the eighth of December.
That was the day that we had to put our cat down.
We were undone. Absolutely shocked and devastated. I did not start that day thinking I was going to have to say goodbye to my cat, as she was going to die. It was the most unpleasant kind of surreal. I cried for days. My house was draped in sadness. Whatever Christmas spirit/energy we had building up was gone.
Our sweet cat, Cali.
But Christmas came and went, and it turned out to be okay. By New Year’s Eve (a couple of days before), we had a new cat.
We weren’t expecting to get another cat so soon, but she was being fostered by the daughter of someone who works adjacent to my husband’s department, and that lady was kind enough to let him know, in case we’d be interested. So, we got her, and having a cat in the house again lifted everyone’s spirits.
Our sweet kitty, Lila.
Then, January came and went. I was not planning on having to put in so much work to regulate my nervous system, but it was what it was. I was fairly dysregulated, for the same reasons as many other people living here in America.
I hate to say that the energy of the events of January took all the wind out of my sails, but that is indeed what happened. Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four, even now (on 3 February)… it’s been a lot. It’s a LOT. So, my well-thought plans for writing here, making an audio recording or two, making a couple of YouTube videos after finally starting up again in the Fall… those plans fell by the wayside again after being recovered around Christmas.
Which brings us to the today of things.
I have energy again. Really happy about that. Slowly but surely (hence the name of my Substack), I will make the things I was planning to make. I’m thinking I’ll tackle making a new YouTube video this week. And I am finally writing a new post here.
As you know, music gets me through a lot, a lot of the time. According to my year-end streaming reports, I listened to over 88,000 minutes of music in 2024, which is actually kind of low for me. But I did keep up with my monthly lists faithfully (I’m glad I do these, because it helps me remember so much), and got my yearly lists done too.
My preliminary list of favorite songs of 2024. Three pages worth!
Other year-end favorites.
December 2024 list.
Final list of favorite songs in 2024.
I’ve done a decent bit of writing since the start of the year, and I’m really happy about that. I’ve even drawn a little. Yikes; I’m rusty lol. No matter. I’ll keep drawing regardless. I haven’t done any playing around in my art journal or larger books yet, but I know that I will in time. I am feeling more emotionally regulated again.
Here’s the first music list of 2025, for January.
See you again soon.