I have had a pretty tough week and have not felt much like writing about Ralph Kimball or anything data-related. Hell, I’ve barely been able to tolerate work.
Sometimes it’s like that. Instead of trying to muster energy I don’t have to write about a topic I’m tired of this week, I thought I’d write about 5 things giving me hope and keeping the spirits up. Maybe it’ll boost your mood too.
1. Dungeons & Dragons
I’m starting a secondary Dungeons & Dragons (Pathfinder, really, but more people get what D&D is) campaign with some friends. D&D is by far the most delightful hobby I have. I was always the kid on the playground breathlessly telling friends to pretend like they were pirates or wizards or dragons. If you were that kid, and you miss that imaginativeness in adult life, D&D is for you.
Capitalism sucks for a variety of reasons, chief among them the relentless pressure to have monetizable hobbies that build towards something in your career. I hate that pressure and try to make a point to have hobbies in my off time that will not do anything for my career, they’re just good for my spirit.
D&D’s only purpose in my life right now is to give me space to be creative, imaginative, and silly with friends once a week. And that shit is good for the soul.
2. My RP Guild on Hardcore WoW
Sticking with the whole “Faith enjoys roleplaying games” theme here. My partner got me into World of Warcraft Classic a couple of years ago. It’s a massively multiplayer online game centered around questing and roleplaying in a fantasy dragon-slaying land. There’s long been folks who increase the intensity of their WoW experience by enforcing with themselves that they only get one life in the game, and if they die, they delete their character. It sure makes the heart pound.
Recently, the makers of WoW Classic released two servers where hardcore rules are enforced by the game itself instead of just the players. My partner & I joined a guild on one of these servers that’s very focused on role play. The feeling of giddiness I get logging on to a goofy role play event where 40+ people log onto the game and go kill a gnoll that’s been haunting the hills of Westfall is hard to describe, in the most beautifully mundane way.
The kids in your life are constantly making time for their imaginations. Why aren’t you?
3. My cat slowly losing his shit as we move.
My partner and I bought a house last week. We’ve been slowly settling in ever since, but the cat hasn’t been to the new place yet. He’s experiencing a slow evolution of our apartment as we move more and more stuff over to the house. He keeps licking the walls, jumping up and attacking shadows on the walls, and sitting in freshly exposed bits of floor that he couldn’t sit in before. It’s a whole new world in the apartment for Gus. I wish I could be inside his head for just a minute while he’s going absolutely apeshit over something I can’t see on the wall. Must be pretty interesting in there.
4. Seeing & helping my peers figure out their money.
I’ve been good with money for a long time. My parents used to be financial counselors. I’ve also had GAD forever, at varying levels of severity through life. Anxiety + parental influence were a great perfect storm for me to get good and stay good at budgeting. Recently, a couple of my peers have reached out for help with getting their own budgets set up. I’ve obliged, and it’s pretty gratifying to see them get out of debt and in control of their financial picture. They’re the ones doing the hard work, I’m just providing a skeleton framework1.
Being in control of your money is being in greater control of your life. Feeling more in control of your life is so damn good for your mental health. Can’t recommend it enough.
5. Halloween’s approach
When I was still on Instagram, I was a menace to the 13th Floor’s account. My best friend and I are big fans of this high-production haunted house, and we go together every year. I love the advent of Halloween.
My partner and I watch more scary movies this time of year. We kicked off spooky season with Jennifer’s Body this time around. We are going to make a few trips to the 13th Floor. We’ll go to costume parties and come up with silly costume ideas just like we do every year. It’s another chance to indulge our playfulness.
Most things are hard, but not everything
Adult life on its own requires a lot of seriousness. Keeping up with financial and professional responsibilities isn’t easy. If you throw serious illness of a family member in there, it’s all pretty tiring. I can get sucked beneath the emotional drag of it all, and this was just one of those weeks.
After my dad passed, I was sucked under the emotional drag of it all for a really long time. My mom was, too. She came home from the grocery store one day and told me she’d seen an ad for the Colorado Lottery, and that it had made her cry a bit. The ad just said “Don’t forget to play.”
We’re not gamblers. But it stuck with us both, as a gentle self-care mantra.
Don’t forget to play.
See you next week.
I do it for them for free but if you want my help with a budget it’s not gonna be free. But I have some success stories now, so.
It’s eerie how similar our lives have been -- the part about DND and giving financial advice especially 😄