Sauntering Vaguely Downward

1. What was the best thing that happened to you this year in 2022?
   At work: getting promoted. At home: getting my varifocal prescription. I feel we should celebrate the things that make it easier to get older, and the improvement in glasses design for people with complicated prescriptions due to aging is one of them.


2. What are you looking forward to next year in 2023?
   I am determined not to spend excessive time on non-promotable tasks [NPTs].


3. Will you be doing anything special to ring in the New Year?
   I drank Sauternes with the bloke, and watched the London display on the telly, which was very nice.


4. What would you like to see more of next year in 2023?
   Peace, joy, humans being kind to one another, governments that are not hell-bent on vilifying marginalised groups and refugees, a more equal distribution of wealth.


5. What was your best New Year’s Eve ever?
   I don’t think I have a “best”, but I do have a “most exciting”, and that was the year the bloke and I went to London to stand on the banks of the Thames and watch the fireworks display in person. I’m glad I did it once but I don’t feel a tremendous need to do it again.

I debated over our recent holiday whether to simply continue not posting or to make some kind of formal statement about how I plan to use this journal in future. Personally I prefer it when people don't just disappear. I know that 99% of the time they've just got bored or busy or distracted by a different platform and don't find the journal rewarding enough to continue, and nothing terrible has happened to them. But it's nice to have the reassurance that this is the case, rather than that they've been hit by a bus or something. 

So I guess this is me obliquely sidling up to the realisation that despite 21 years of journalling (as of this July), I have neither the time nor the inclination to keep up my commitment to writing and interacting here as intensively as I once did. I can see the signs of this in my recent posting patterns: more short entries, far fewer public posts, failure to post photos because it's just too much effort to muster after a 15 hour day, failure to reply to comments or to other people's posts. 

There are external factors too. I got promoted at work. I have a huge workload now that I have a senior administrative role in my department, plus teaching and grant management. I'm co-supervising my first PhD student. The children will be going to different schools in a week's time, effectively doubling our life admin complications. Because of this we've had to acquire a second car after 10 years of getting away with having only one. 

I'm sure no one apart from me is surprised, but I hope I'm not the only one who's sad about this. I loved being (what felt to me like) a stalwart part of this community. It's painful to have to let it go. I will post now and again but I won't be reading regularly so if this is important to you and you need to say goodbye because of it, please do. On the other hand, if you're okay with sporadic updates and patchy, enthusiastic interaction then please stay. I'm always happy to pick up with friends and acquaintances after long silences.

I'll keep my Wed-Sat shifts on the daily "Just One Thing" achievement posts for Awesomeers.dreamwidth.org. Do join there if you want a low key way of recording stuff you've done and getting a little cheer for it. That's how I use it.

If you'd like to connect elsewhere, I'm on the following, but don't post much: Instagram (magnetometrist) and Twitter (nanila). I'm most active on and 150+ days into a Duolingo streak so happy to be added there as well: nanila2, the one with a Neko Atsume cat as my userpic.

TL;DR version: Nanila angsts about not journalling regularly, isn't leaving completely, loves you all, stay or go as you like, please add on Duolingo. ❤️