I'm Back!

A lot has happened since my last blog post in February. I had every intention of posting something for the month of March and continuing my monthly posting schedule but I allowed life to distract me. During this impromptu hiatus, my personal life took me on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster ride. As always, I chose to focus on the positives. I met some awesome people this year and went on some memorable adventures. I made exciting further progress with my OCD recovery, celebrated my 31st birthday with friends and family, went camping for the first time in almost 30 years, and came out as non-binary. I discovered that I have a lot of great people in my corner, and I'm so very thankful. 

As the year draws to a close, I've been setting goals and plans in place for 2024 and I'm feeling optimistic. One goal I have is to return to writing monthly blog posts. Topic suggestions are welcome! Another goal I have is to get back into doing the things that bring me joy; things that I stopped doing because of the other stuff in life that was taking up my mental energy. These things I want to return to include penpaling and creative journaling - which I've recently started getting back into, and the joy they once brought me is returning. It feels awesome! 

A few things I've learned this year include: 

• How important it is to make time for passions, hobbies and the little things in life that bring us joy. This is something I already knew, but seeing how much happier I am now that I'm getting back into things just makes it all the more evident.
• It's okay to take a break. Part of the reason I wasn't blogging was because I wasn't feeling inspired to do so; I wasn't in the right headspace to sit down and write a post with maximum effort, and I didn't want to deliver something I'd written half-heartedly. Now that I'm feeling inspired and in the right mental space to focus on my writing again, I feel like I can do justice to the things I want to share with the world, and I'm approaching my blog with a fresh new perspective. 
• Focus on the people who add joy to your life, and learn from everyone else. There are lots of people in this world who will add joy to your life and make it more awesome; there are also people who will do the opposite. When people disappoint or mistreat us, we can use it as a learning opportunity. We can learn how to stand up for ourselves, how to communicate our feelings, what kind of treatment we deserve, what kind of treatment we won't tolerate, and so many other valuable lessons. Sometimes the same person can bring us joy and treat us well but also disappoint us. In this instance, I've learned to be grateful for the good and to accept that we are all just imperfect humans with flaws, as well as to communicate my feelings and be open to learning whatever lesson arises from the situation. 
• Things can get better. I was already so grateful for the progress I'd made with my OCD, and then in the spring I had a breakthrough and things got even better! I'll write more about this breakthrough at another time, but the important thing is that it gave me so much hope. Hope that things can get better. There were times when I didn't know if I'd see this day, if my OCD would ever improve or if I'd ever enjoy life again. Sometimes it's hard to believe I survived the hell I went through. I still have a ways to go but I am so, so grateful. 

I'm looking forward to the new year and I'm excited to see what new lessons and adventures 2024 will bring. If you feel like sharing, let me know what you learned this year and what goals, hopes and dreams you have for 2024.

Thanks for reading!

Hugs, 

Marady 

Celebrating Pride Season '23. Photo by Garry James MacMillan

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