Sunday, January 03, 2010

And Another

I would write about how weird it is to be writing another post about the new year when it seems like I only just wrote the one from the previous year, but that's getting a little old. Come to think of it, that's what I just wrote, isn't it?

So, that was 2009. Hell, that was the 2000s. From the things that people wrote on New Year's Eve, there didn't seem to be much love for this past year. I spent 2009 unemployed and tightly budgeted, myself. There were a lot of things I didn't get to do this year that I normally would have. I virtually let my YouTube channel go. I still posted a video every month or so, but I pretty much kept things simple and didn't really get anybody else involved. Nothing wrong with that; my best ideas are the simple ones I come up with off the cuff.

Besides being unemployed and somewhat restricted, I didn't really mind this year. 2006 was pretty much my infamous year. I'm not gonna get too much into the details in this post, but ultimately, I'm in a better mind set now than I was in 2006. I had a lot of anxiety that year, whereas now I'm better able to just relax and make the best of things.

As for the 2000s; the consensus seems to be based around a Time article with the melodramatic title, The Worst Decade Ever. Sure, the decade began with the tragedy of 911, there was a war, there were natural disasters, and it ended with a recession, but the worst? Really? This is a freakin decade we're talking about. A whole freaking decade! Of course there were tragedies in the span of a decade, there always are. The three preceding decades may have been less tragic, but the world didn't begin with the 70s.

Also, the 2000s comprised my entire 20s. 22 days after Y2K, I turned 20. I was in the Air Force, stationed in Japan, at the time. After that, I went to Phoenix for a couple years. When that was over, I moved back up to Oregon. I've worked security and I've studied psychology, graphic design, and web development. I finished school and spent the last months of the decade looking for work and taking odd jobs.

My personal philosophy has undergone a lot of change. I began the decade as a confused liberal trapped in a conservative's body. I've gone on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride as I searched from place to place for the right answer to... whatever. And in the end, I seem to have solidified into a mindset based on simply making use of the present moment.

In nineteen days from now, my 20's will end. As I approached 29, my youth fleeting behind me, I felt as if I were getting too old too fast. But now, on the verge of 30, it feels more like a beginning.

Happy New Year.