1character: 1 Character, 1 Sentence, 50 Themes

It's pledging season again over at GetYourWordsOut and I already made my decision for 2026. I haven't actually met my goal in years but that hasn't stopped me o/

When I first got back into it, I smashed my habit pledges, but then switched to word count and found out word count was not for me lol. In the last year I specifically gave myself permission to take as long a break as I wanted, so out of 240 days I only wrote for 70+. So this time I chose the minimum of 120 days to write and we'll see how it goes. The creative joy and juices have been coming back to me this month - it feels like the bloat in my brain from stress and anxiety has gone away. It's a nice feeling, wanting to write for myself again.

My wife's Christmas concert was Friday night, some of my in-laws came down for it. I wore my cute candy-cane earrings and played nice. I still don't do religion, I don't have a relationship with God, but I can enjoy music on its own, and when my wife sings Silent Night I always get misty eyed <3_<3

Yesterday we went on a lovely day trip that included a self-guided holiday tour in a castle, delicious food from a cafe decorated with all sorts of eclectic cat art, and a nearby green house to buy an amaryllis bulb for my mom. We got home and I immediately took a nap, lol.

My goal before the New Year is to finally put in an order at the photo center and fill the photo album I bought two years ago. I spent last night creating and organizing albums on my phone. I miss physical pictures and there's nothing stopping me from doing something about it.

Tactile experience has become more and more important to me - and I'm making a real effort to revisit all my books, games, and art. "Shop your shelves," as they say. My goal is less of not buying new things, but seeing if there's still something to experience with what I already own. Then figuring out if it's worth keeping or not.

While we were driving around yesterday, I admitted to my wife that once I became aware of my chronic pain, my anxiety latched onto it and created this undertone of: "I'm too broken to have fun." That anxiety has stopped me a lot from doing things I enjoy, even small things at home.

But recently I've had the conscious thought that I'm allowed to be happy and live my life, and that if I need to rest more - it's worth it. The recovery is worth doing. I won't pretend I'll never have a mood swing or a terrible day again... but it's nice to believe in myself.

I'm feeling the holiday spirit, which has been exciting! I made a goal this year of sending out 50 envelopes and in the end sent out 65. IDK about next year but this year it was really fun. We're building a card wall with the cards we've received from family and friends, and still enjoying our advent calendars.

Happy Sunday from me in EST land /o/