Today is a groggy day. It’s helpful for me on days like this to just get whatever is on my mind off of it. So that’s what this post is. A bit of me unsticking the gears, but also a snapshot of my life at this time, what’s going on and what I’m looking forward to.
Another year older
For the last few years I feel like my birthday celebrations have been more sincere, focusing on getting myself what I need even if it seems trivial. This year I had just come back from speaking at SDinGov, so my birthday treat was a lovely crossaint and a visit to the Kiefer Van Gogh exhibition.
31 was a really weird year for me. I spent the first half of it depressed and lost, stuck at the top of a career ladder I wasn’t sure I should be on anymore. Twelve months later I feel like everything has changed. I’m in a new job, I’ve become a lot physically healthier, and I’m also so much busier with really interesting things.
Moving home (again)
The last time I moved house was 2021, so in the middle of the pandemic. The roads were empty and we didn’t have much stuff, so I remember it being quite painless.
This time, not so much.
Turns out four years is enough time to gather mountains of stuff. Helpful stuff. Essential stuff. Also a lot of totally useless tat. Getting all of this out of my old home, into a van, and into a different building, has been such a drain on my energy.
And that doesn’t even cover all the admin. Switching energy suppliers, telling the councils (but only after you’ve moved, or before, each council seems to do things differently), changing your address in so many different and niche places. Paying rent in two homes at once and the shuffling of deposits, leaning on your neighbours to put your bins out and collect your missed deliveries. We’ve been handling a move for about three weeks now but it’s only now starting to feel settled (and even then, not really).
If anything this is another reason for us to buy our next place rather than rent again, because as long as our home isn’t ours this is always going to be a risk. One moment you’re settling and stable, the next you’re being kicked out and paying hundreds to not be homeless. I’m lucky that I landed on my feet - I’d been saving the money to move at some point - but it’s still not pleasant.
Things I’ve been enjoying
I’ve renewed my Crunchyroll subscription so I’ve been dipping back into anime. I figured it would be better than doomscrolling through LinkedIn when I have a quiet 20 minutes. I’ve already gotten through the first season of Kaiju No 8. which was a blast.
Dodie released her new album Not For Lack Of Trying and I’ve been obsessively playing it on loop. She’s a similar age to me and I feel like I can empathise with a lot of the things she sings about. Trying and failing to find joy, chronic envy, knowing that scary and sad things are coming but that right now you’re safe. My thirties are where I’ve started to feel a lot of squeezes from life (both good and bad) and Dodie’s lyrics have a way of describing my feelings so perfectly.
Although I haven’t had much time for video games, I have played a few that have stuck. Persona 3 Reload has been amazing. I played Persona 5 through twice, easily putting in 100 hours each time, and I think P3R has the same potential. The characters are lovable and the gameplay loop of running through Tartarus fighting Shadows is incredibly polished. I also sunk a few good hours into Potion Craft which was very calming. A good game to play idly while listening to a podcast… like Gumshoes and Dragons. It’s a murder mystery comedy podcast set in the D&D universe (kinda? I guess?) so the murders are achieved with spells and potions rather than knives and poisons. The ‘murderer’ is the episode guest and it’s funny listening them try to distract the detectives away from the solution.
In the background I’m knitting and drawing and painting and journalling. My main project is another jumper that’s much easier to make than I thought it would be. Now all I need to do is finish it before I actually need to wear it…
I’ve been watching Celebrity Traitors UK. I am a big fan of social games, I’ve played a lot of them with my friends, so it’s always interesting watching other people play them. You can always tell which people have never played a hidden roles game and who is an expert! Coincidentally I’ve also been playing (and watching) Gnosia, which I guess is like Among Us meets anime? But it’s very well crafted, and although I’m not that far through it I’m excited to see how the larger story unfolds.
Final stretch
The clocks have now fallen back, and we are firmly on our way to winter. The leaves that are still clinging onto the trees are crispy yellow and orange, the air is starting to bite, and my seasonal depression is kicking in. But there’s still plenty left for me in 2025.
I’m off to Converge this week to learn more about design systems and how the big players are using them. It does not feel like it but I’m still less than a year into my pivot so I want to learn everything I can whilst I’m still in the honeymoon period of a shiny new career.
I’ll also be going to Make With Notion on the 4th and 5th of November, talking about Notion with companies of all sizes in London. I’ve been working on some very special things for these events. No spoilers, but it’s been SO refreshing to work on something other than a web app or a social media post. With this project, for the first time in a while, I felt so locked in.
And I want to make more time for myself and spend time on slow activites. Between all the events and the run-up to Christmas I get overwhelmed very easily; I tend to push myself too hard relative to how much steam I have left. And it’s hard not to. A lot of exciting things happen that I want to be a part of!