Goals and plans for the new year
I have some plans for the new year that I'd like to put to paper as a small measure of accountability and internal pressure to follow through. I don't expect to do all of these, all goals are transitory and cannot account for future changes, but I do plan to hold these in mind as I move through the year.
Play Ring Fit Adventure every day. I got it for christmas and having played it once today, I found it tiring and oddly compelling. It's not a replacement for something as challenging as crossfit, but until my wife and I can figure out a reasonable compromise, this must be my primary method for staying active.
Buy no new games. I own many games and yet I keep saying to myself, "Maybe this one will be amazing/so fun/something that I love." Occasionally I'm right, but mostly I enjoy them a little and then put them aside for the next thing. I know I won't be able to hold this line, but I'd like to sincerely try.
Play through the Zelda series in release order. I had this thought while watching @headfallsoff.com on bluesky post about their adventures working through the Sonic games and struggling to enjoy Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. Hand in hand with #2 above, I hope to exercise restraint through a dedicated task. How exactly will this work? I'm not sure. I don't expect to be a purist (I'll play a remake or remaster as I feel appropriate), but I do want to stick to the release order format, to see the evolution of the series.
Continue to keep up with Shelved By Genre. Because of them (and the energy it gives me), I've read 17 (soon to be 18) books this calendar year, the most of my adult life. It feels really good to make progress, to follow through on these works, to explore new ideas and new thoughts. I've owned Shadow and Claw since 2005 but only cracked it last year because of them; likewise with the Earthsea books past Tombs of Atuan. I'm deeply excited about the Sprawl trilogy, one of my favorite series, and I'm further excited to see where the show goes after.
Write on here slightly more than once a month. The ease of writing on Cohost gave me a fire and passion for both short and long form writing, and I'd like to recapture that. I don't know how exactly, but I think it's doable. I just need to stay a little mindful of the "trivial inconvenience" and push through.
Last but not least, be a better dad. I hope to get the fuck off my phone for good — if I can do that, then I will consider the entire year a resounding success. In lieu of that, I want to be more present and less reactive, more patient and less combative, give them more freedom and more support to be bold and weird, and to apologize way more for the things I do wrong.
Other small things I've thought about, that don't feel discrete enough for the list: speedrun Influx Redux? paint the first floor a neutral color? build all of the shelves and bookcases and cabinets that are piled in the garage? clean out the basement? improve as a sexual partner?
I read the phrase "You have to love the work" or something a couple years ago in relation to parenting (maybe Simon Sarris on twitter), and it's stuck with me. I can't half ass my life, I can't coast. Not in a "rise and grind" way, but living intentionally and accepting that the hard work of life is the reward. Playing games feels good and it's easy to measure, but my kids are growing up fast. L is about to turn 5, which is insane to me. I gotta actually for fucking real pay attention and enjoy this because I don't get a second chance.
I don't know. It's hard, every day is hard, nothing ever gets easier by itself, only through the grist of effort.