January Retrospective and February Plans

I've powered up for Hive Power Up Day. Have you? If not, stake at least 10 Hive Power and earn a badge from @hivebuzz! Just make sure you complete this monthly challenge before midnight according to the UTC clock.

I haven't posted much this past month, but here's the archive anyway.

• 2023 Retrospective and January 1st Power Up Day! A roundup of December posts and links to all the other monthly posts of that year.

• 2024: What Lies Ahead? I still don't have any idea what my plans are.

• Regulatory Obsolescence: Building Codes vs. the Housing Crisis, a topic close to two of my interests, architecture and economics.

• 1st LEO PUD of 2024! Joining a challenge

• Hoplophobic Propaganda Masquerading as News, or trying to bring reason to an emotionally-charged topic using a propaganda hit piece as a starting point.

• Taste-Testing an Instant Coffee Trio, because sometimes there isn't time to even run a drip brew machine.

• How Should Christians View the Immigration Debate? Nothing like a little controversy, right?

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I recently came to the stark realization that the last time I felt like I was on the road to success as we typically conceive it was way back in early 2008. I had a job with a real architectural firm as a draftsman earning what was good money for entry-level white collar work at the time. I had a nice enough apartment and a reliable, quiet roommate. I had a reasonably good car. In spite of chronic health issues, and an acute bad back injury from my prior job, I was on the road to recovery. Even though the "Global War on Terror" was devastating Iraq and Afghanistan, things weren't too bad domestically.

Or so it seemed.

Little did I know the housing market was a bubble about to burst, leading to being laid off in early 2009. Subsequent jobs were worse, resulting in financial stress and worsening health problems. Obamacare drove up the cost of my insurance, and just to make ends meet, I also had to reduce my coverage despite still paying more. My car was totaled when it got rear-ended, and my back got screwed up again. I had to move back home eventually due to financial and physical collapse.

Since that crisis point, I slowly tried to build something. I was diagnosed with food allergies, which helped somewhat with my chronic health issues once I changed my diet. I eventually got a part-time job as a librarian, where I found my niche helping my community learn and grow. I got semi-serious about cryptocurrencies, and eventually discovered Steemit HIVE. There were ups and downs, but I felt I was doing more than just treading water. I had a job I didn't dread every morning, I was breaking even financially, and taking steps toward better mental and physical health. However, the last several years have been a barrage of chaos, too.

• Family struggles.

• COVID, and worse still, government policy in response.

• Politicians accusing librarians of perverse crimes, pushing bad legislation, and getting elected to local boards by gullible masses nationwide.

• An ongoing economic malaise as government policy never bothered to address the root problems behind the 2008 collapse, and instead doubled down on many bad policies to kick the can further down the road.

• Severe inflation no one in power wants to admit, yet is undeniably impacting my real-world expenses.

• Older generations alternately blaming us for causing the very problems they're otherwise unwilling to admit, and calling us lazy when we point them out.

All of these stress factors and more have been building up, and I have been feeling the growing pressure of stress. I have been spending less time online reading and writing this month because I just need a break. I am tired, in a way far beyond what a good night's sleep can remedy. Life is hard enough just dealing with the day-to-day struggles of finances, chronic illness, and food allergies. External factors on top of it all can be overwhelming at times.

That is why January has been quite sparse on the posting front. I also haven't been as active in curation as I would like. I'm not burned out on HIVE specifically, I'm just burned out in general. As happened in January, I expect February to have few posts, and I'll largely cover the more serious topics I am pondering. When I engage in hobbies or travel, I don't plan to write about it because I am on a personal sabbatical from the blogging grind.

@Denmarkguy recently wrote, "The mental health industry seems to have a bias towards labeling anything that resembles sadness as "depression," and if people are sad for more than a few moments, they are generally medicated into oblivion because we can't have people going around being sad." I'm not sure sad, or even melancholy, quite has the nuance to describe some of the feelings with which I am grappling. I'm not in a depressive black hole. I'm not angry with anyone specifically, although I am infuriated by many policies and trends which adversely affect my life. I find joy and contentment in many aspects of life every day, too.

It's a bizarre emotional tapestry, and I don't know whether I'm being ensnared, or weaving a cocoon for some kind of personal metamorphosis. I'm mixing metaphors as I pull at different threads to see what unravels. It's time for introspection and self-examination. Don't expect a lot of posts about it. This isn't really something I want to share, and I'm not sure I really like being as forthcoming as I have been in this post.

Oh, well.

Keep calm, and blog on!