2020 Year In Review

Intro

Welcome friends. This will be the last blog of 2020 and what a year it’s been. For new readers, every year at this time, I do a review of how the year went. Usually the review is done in the context of art, but this year I will expand it to every relevant facet of my life. I’m not going to go into excruciating detail on every point, I’m just going to layout events or thoughts, and a small statement reflecting on it. Think of it like a patch note for a video game update. With all that said, let’s get into it.

The Breakdown

Covid-19

The prevailing narrative of 2020 was Covid. Regardless of where you fall, no one can deny the impact it has had on society. It has challenged a lot of how life is structured for people, and like all things, this could be good or bad, but it’s dependent upon how you process and handle the information. For me, Covid brought an opportunity to develop physically, mentally and financially on a scale I had never done before.

Family

2020 was probably the least amount of time I spent with my family. This was an issue relating to Covid, more than it was me not wanting to see my family. I did what I could do, but I also have a lot of family with pre-existing conditions and I live in a hot area where there are a lot of carriers. Hopefully 2021 allows me to spend more time with my family, because time is short

Travel

The biggest downer for me for 2020 was the cancellation of my trip to Japan. It still hurts, but not as much without the last minute shock. While I was planning the trip, I wanted to have a few years of traveling. This year would be Japan, next year would be Brazil, the year after would be a cross country road trip, and so on. I’ve had to re-calculate and re-prioritize things before I can travel, but make no mistake, I’m still gunning to fill that sense of adventure.

Relationships

This year was very difficult for me for relationships. I like meeting women in person, not online, but due to Covid, had to adapt. It did not go well. I think I have actually matched much less with people this year than I did at any other year. Online dating has always been competitive but now? I don’t even know if it’s worth it. That said, in the extra time I had, I listened to a lot of Patrice O’ Neal. Patrice is a subject that deserves his own blog, and one day I will give him the time. To keep it short, his vision was the last piece of the pie for my personal development as a man.

Art

When it comes to art, 2020 was a year where I had to reset so I could step out of bad behaviors. I experimented a lot more, I updated my creative pipeline, began divesting myself from social media approval and gave myself time to get excited about making short films. For almost 10 years, maybe even more, I had been producing art in some form consistently without much of a vision. Over the last year, I began unlearning a lot of toxic beliefs as it relates to my art, so I can come back with more interesting, well intentioned and purposeful work. Very exciting times.

Money

This year, student loans were halted, and I couldn’t have been more grateful for it. It really makes a night and day difference in quality of life to not be held down by the baggage of debt (about half of my check would go to just bills). This allowed me to start developing a more aggressive financial grow mindset, and to become more fiscally conscious. This resulted in finally dipping my toes into the stock market (and even cryptocurrency). Next year, I plan to make even more aggressive investments.

Hobbies

2020 was the year I reclaimed my time. It’s funny how there is *so much* time in the day, to the point, where most people take it for granted; however, once you start rounding yourself out as a person with hobbies, that time seems to disappear. This year I began: developing a musical ear and learning how to play the keyboard, along with music theory, I began learning how to dance, I began working out more aggressively, and I also picked up a little calligraphy and 3d modeling experience. I plan to push these new hobbies even further in 2021.

New Ambitions

2020 gave me the time to ruminate on my current path and what I want to do with the rest of my life. Before this year, I didn’t have much of a vision, but now I have a clearer idea of what I want to do with my life. It’s not full proof or set in stone, but I haven’t been this excited about my life in a while. With the addition of my hobbies (that will eventually be capitalized on), I am on a path of mastery, and I couldn’t be more excited. Lastly, I plan on getting my license in 2021 so I can have the freedom to come and go from the city as I please. 2020 taught me that NYC and it’s people, whom I do love, has changed so much from what I originally know, that I need to get away from it once a while.

Outro

This year has been rough, and a lot of things have happened, but it was a great opportunity to grow as a person and artist. For a large part of my life, I felt directionless, but I currently have felt a renewed fire and I plan to use it to burn the old me, and use the flames to light the way to a better future.

Thank you for reading, see you in 2021!