I’m not sure what to say about the next year. Grant it’s just 30 mins in… But unlike 2021, I don’t get the sense of still living in 2020, but I also don’t feel any excitement for the new year either.
I guess because 2022 will probably be more of the same, with Omicron lingering over our heads, and quite frankly, that won’t be the last of Covid-19. More new variants will come for sure… The only thing we can hope for is that new variants have more desirable traits – for us and the virus. Spreads better, but cause weaker illness. So that slowly but surely, the virus will be attenuated and become no worse than the common flu.
It’s been so long… I can’t even imagine how and when the world will return to ‘normalcy’. The norm as we know it has been so greatly changed… I feel naked if I change to going out clothes at home, and don’t wear a mask. Like when I’m still preparing to get out of the house before work. It’s like if I don’t wear a watch when I’m out. I feel naked.
Yes. Mask wearing is still mandatory here in Singapore, and I don’t expect that rule to go away anytime soon. Not even by the end of this year.
I’ve already gotten used to wearing a mask everywhere… Only thing is that weather here is really hot and I definitely need a change of mask after say, reaching the office. Because my mask would be drenched in sweat. I already have a cluster of pimples on my left cheek, ever since the mask wearing begin last year, never to clear. It’s right at the edge of the mask, where all the sweat dripping down my forehead accumulates…. I just got some tea tree oil products to hopefully help with the mask pimple situation. Let’s hope it helps. And that I can keep up the skin care routine…
Well anyway. A little late perhaps, but let’s look back on the year 2021.
It’s been a year of many changes. For me at work, I started working on new projects, started working with new colleagues… And also have to deal with manpower changes as my bestie did a job change. Lol. Job change sounds like some RPG game but yeah… You get what I mean. (I hope?)
Outside of work. I started my TheMessyDesk.xyz instagram account last year… I mean, in late 2020. But tried to continue working on it throughout the year. Well, it did kinda stop with the starting up of my YouTube channel. I also started this blog, well, paid for the domain name and stuff, sometime last year. But finally decided to actually start using it like yesterday.
I’ve only properly been on YouTube for too short a time to say much, other than a big thank you to everyone who has subscribed to my channel thus far. There hasn’t been all that many of you, but I still want to thank you from the bottom of my heart nonetheless. Starting up is always the most difficult thing, and I’m far from settling into a routine with filming and editing the videos. Everything is still too new and I also have a lot of issues to overcome. I’d love to be able to film myself and not just my table someday. But that would require me to have a complete revamp of my room, which is rather impossible at the moment. Partially owing to how full of *stuff* my room is. And considering that I am *still* buying yet more stuff… I don’t know what to do lol. More new fountain pens, art supplies, twisty puzzles…
So yeah, don’t expect to see a change any soon.
As for New Year resolutions…
Well, I’ll just call them goals for the new year.
My goals are simple.
1. I hope that my YouTube channel will continue to grow. Gain more subscribers and more views and watch hours. And to that end, I will continue trying my best to put out one video a week.
I keep wanting to do 2 videos a week but at the same time, I don’t have the mental energy to do that much editing… Trying to put out content that people actually want to see is really important too. Like the latest How to Use the Pineider Pen Filler that was such a big flop. Oh wells. We can only live and learn.
2. I want to keep this blog, as well as TwistyRoads active. I’ll probably do a post a week at least, but most likely more, especially if I’m on a roll. I take to writing so much more than editing videos, I’m afraid. I’d love to have an editor but… Right now my video qualities aren’t even that good, it’s kinda embarrassing to have someone else edit them. Not to mention that I obviously don’t have the money to pay anyone. I’m still so far from being even able to monetise my videos.
3. I’d like to use my fountain pens more, and do more art. And that means that I would need to have a better work life balance, as well as a lot more discipline. Not sure how well this would work out. But hey, at least I gotta try.
4. Read more. I didn’t met my meagre target for 1 book a month in 2021… But I did read A LOT of web novels so… Well I’m giving myself a pass. But yeah, if I could read 1 book a month that would be good. And I JUST bought myself a new kindle to read on too. A fancy Kindle Oasis at that too.
5. Get better at cubing, but still continue to enjoy myself.
Well… That’s mainly it I guess. I definitely want to improve on my video making skills and editing skills. It’s going to be slow and tough road for sure. I can tell you I’m the typical artist who is an introvert and not very eloquent. I write way better than I can speak. I pause a ton, stumble over my words, can’t pronounce things right…
But still. I love working with my own hands, doing some sort of crafty stuff… And I would love to turn my hobbies into something that I can make a living from. For now, I’ll have to get those 500 subscribers, before I aim for 1000 subscribers and 4000 watch hours – the bare minimum before you can monetise your videos. It’s going to be a long time yet before I can make living wages but still, I really hope that someday I’ll be able to make it.
Alright. It’s getting late so that’s all there is for now. No, I don’t have any new year special for my channel or my blog. As much as I have recovered mentally, also, not quite so. I don’t have anything special lined up at all, unfortunately. Maybe, hopefully, things will be very different when I’m posting about 2023 in a year’s time. We shall see…