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Find what fuels you in life... |
As I look back on and bid adieu to 2024, one thing that I can definitely say
is that it's been a different sort of year than the previous ten.
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No, the world is not getting better, regardless of any desire of
mine for it to be so. I've said what I can and continue to do what I
can, but no more extended soapboxing or grandstanding for me here
either.
I sincerely hope so. 🤗
Twelve months ago, I signed off here without knowing when I'd be back.
After a decade of uploading a new blog post every Saturday, I was about to
embark on a new phase of not doing so.
What the phase would involve in terms of what I'd be doing was a mystery,
but I gave myself permission to do nothing, if that had been my
desire.
What ended up here was six months' worth of focus on a junk journal
project, which involved a little bit of sewing, so it wasn't totally off
topic.
The Journal
The journal itself has become part of my daily routine throughout this
past year, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. It's also
grown in girth, moving even beyond its original jumbo size; the cover
closure no longer overlaps.
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| Getting even bigger... |
In September, I filled up my first notebook and progressed into a second,
which was easily threaded into place inside the back cover. (Our motor
association travel magazine provides a vast array of images to tear out
and paste onto the covers of these basic dollar store notebooks.)
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| Old notebook filled up (insets); new notebook in place... |
On a regular basis, I flip through the notebook portion and transcribe the
most memorable quotations into the main body of the journal. (Some are
scattered throughout this post; I hope you find meaning in them as I
have.) The more time goes by, the truer it is that we are only here for a
(relatively) short while. It's a blessing to be able to find what your
passion is and to able to give your time to its fulfillment.
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| Fulfillment can be achieved a little bit at a time... |
Oh, and although I am of a mind that this journal should be mostly
reserved for uplifting content, I did think it worthwhile to
include this little gem from one of my favourite literary characters.
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| Jane Austen was remarkably worldly for her age... |
While this quote has been applicable throughout the decades since it was
originally written, I find it especially true now with the prevalence and
general acceptance of fake personas cultivated by people with ulterior
motives. (Be smart about who – and what – you choose to trust...
especially in the age of AI.)
The Bags
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| A coat tree that exists just for my bags... |
A little over a year ago, I also wrote about giving away what we
make.
It was an accounting of the problem that we sewers commonly have, of
making things that are difficult to sell and in many cases, just as hard
to give away.
Yes, we can gift things, but unless we are very knowledgeable about the
recipient, it may not end up being a welcome or usable gift. (And as
I've said, before, it's not always
the thought that counts!)
In this post, I listed nine of the bags that I've made through the years and made
them available to any takers, provided that shipping costs were covered
by the recipient.
You may be curious as to how it turned out, so here's a little update.
Right after the posting, I received two requests from a couple of
regular readers. Those orders were fulfilled in the early part of 2024
without any major issue. (I did learn, however, that there always seems
to be a lineup at the post office outlets near where I live, despite
Canada Post's ongoing troubles.)
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| Messenger bag has a new owner... |
It wasn't until August that I had the opportunity to winnow this
collection down further. Hubby and I reconnected with some extended
family members, one of whom is a young lady I haven't seen since she was
twelve.
Once we established that there was an interest, she selected matching
bags for herself and her sister: the
Betz White Flight Bag
and the modified
Dubstepper messenger. I've always considered them both highly functional and the customized
messenger is a great choice for a student.
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| Life is short... fill it with things you love doing! |
Oftentimes, there is just no better feeling than knowing that something
you made is being appreciated and used by someone! (Oh, and if anyone is
interested in the others, this offer still remains in effect, although
my ability to mail anything might be questionable for some time yet,
what with our postal service still being backlogged after their recent
work stoppage.)
The Internet
So how did I feel about blogging and being online this past year?
Well, there was a definite lack of pressure, which is a good thing. (I
think that posting once every three weeks or so is manageable for the
immediate future.) I appreciate the opportunity to continue writing,
period, as it's a pastime that rejuvenates me and keeps me sharp.
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| The world needs more hard workers and fewer blowhards... |
As for the other part of that question, I purposely avoided consuming a
lot of social media interactions in 2024, having seen how even the
comment section on seemingly innocuous news stories can explode into
vile arguments for no apparent reason.
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| Image courtesy of Oxford University... |
On the brighter side of things, Australia gets a fist pump from me for
having the gumption to set a world-first law by preventing kids under 16
from accessing social media. Getting to the "how" of this decision will
be challenging, I'm sure, but more countries need to take a stand and
get on board. Perhaps then, Oxford University won't have to choose such
depressing words of the year in future.
I ended up writing nineteen blog posts this year. I can't tell you
whether that was more or less what I expected, since I had
no goals or expectations on that front. (I just knew the number
wouldn't be anything close to fifty-two.) If the junk journal hadn't
happened, I may not have posted until the summer. When I said last
December that I might use the extra time on my hands to sew more,
I couldn't have been more wrong!
The Sewing
The concept of "extra time" is relative when you don't actually have a
fixed work schedule. As a retired person, whatever you need to do will
always magically take up the amount of hours that you have.
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| Shedding life's complexities can be freeing... |
The extent of my sewing for this past year was probably less than I had
ever done in any of the dozen years leading up to 2024.
To summarize what I accomplished on that front, there were the small
amounts of sewing relating to the junk journal (vinyl storage pocket,
various ephemera — the cover was actually a late December 2023 project),
modifying some tea towels for Mom, the new
laptop case
for hubby, two
Passport & Travel Document Keepers for an SIL, "darning" some socks (and this was only hand sewing), the
fabric "gingerbread" house, and three projects that will be the topics of posts for the first
part of 2025.
The Surprises
As promised when I announced my break from blogging, I still "hung
around" in 2024 to ensure that comments were responded to, that spam was
fried, and that pattern sales were fulfilled. It's always a pleasant
surprise to receive comments about posts from long ago. (The persistence
of spam is not so much appreciated, but I wasn't inundated by them.)
Always one to dig into stats – I once pondered a career as a
statistician, would you believe?? – I kept a close eye on popular posts
and trending posts. Not that knowing what they are would drive me to
change my blogging habits (although I might just summarize them next
year in a blog post); it was just out of simple curiosity.
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| This was my most significant breakthrough of the year... |
It surprised me when – essentially all year long – a post about how to
fold a blanket into a cape has held its position at number one. (Since
I'm writing this part one day before this post goes live, I'm sure that
if you check out the left sidebar, that post will still be at the top of
the "Most Popular" list.)
Really odd why that topic has been of such interest. Also
surprising – given that it is a popular topic – is the fact that
the post currently holds the number one position for the search term "how to fold a blanket into a poncho". (Apart from employing best practices from the get-go, I don't do a
lot of tweaking with SEO.) Because I'm not actively looking to grow my
blog's following, newbie visitors referred from online searches are
always a welcome surprise.
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| My 2025 wish for you... |
Further on the topic of new readers, I was surprised to gain a few more subscribers this year than I had any expectation to gain, given my reduced involvement. (It was probably enough to equal the number who bailed on me right after my announcement of "quitting" last December — LOL!)
As we close off the current year, let me leave you with three important
questions.
Are you keeping well? Are you staying smart? And are you still being
kind?
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| Aldous Huxley and Paddington Bear have good ideas... |
I sincerely hope so. 🤗
On that note, 'til 2025...
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