Years ago, Aimee, my sister, and a few mates were in the car going to get some drink as it was my sister's birthday, and we got stopped at a checkpoint.
We were questioned and everything was going fine until we were asked if we had anything we shouldn't have, we all said no, as ya do, and one of the lads didn't say it as confident as the rest of us.
"You don't sound so sure. Have you got anything you shouldn't have?" Shifting eyes and a short silence followed. "Uh, no." The guard stared for a moment. "You realise if we find anything and you lied to us you'll be in a lot of trouble, now I'll ask you again, have you anything you shouldn't have?" "Uh, maybe."
Needless to say, we were all taken out of the car and searched on the side of the road. The party was kind of ruined, but we still had a few drinks and a fairly decent night. More so than that, it was one of those moments we reminisced and joked about after.
Reflecting On 2024
This year has been very good. New jobs, new experiences, new connections, rekindling old friendships.
Like every year, there was sadness, the loss of old friends and pets, and the dissolving of my enjoyment of playing music and the two bands I was in.
I suppose dissolving would be the wrong word. They're still there and could be worked on at any time, but I'm just not feeling it. This is the first year I've ever felt like this, and it's the longest stint of not playing in a band that I've had since I was 17, so what, 14 years?
Other aspects of my life have been bolstered though, I found new passions and writing became my dominant creative outlet for the first time in my life.
I still listen to and love music, but I had to come to terms with the feeling of not wanting to play it anymore. Aimee was the first person I admitted it to after a few weeks of having this thought locked away, from there, I bit the bullet and told the others.
Maybe I was never as interested in it as I previously thought. It's strange having such a big part of yourself, and in a way, your identity disappear in - what felt like - a night.
A part of me still wants to do it, and I still get an odd drive to do something musically, but then those thoughts subside and before I know another few weeks pass by without even picking up my bass.
Writing
My writing has taken a big leap, and I feel as though I've gotten to the next step. I feel much more competent, and I have officially released the first part of a long chain of content.
Releasing my stories as audiobooks, chopped up and done as shorts, to then release them as one complete video as the final short goes out.
Will it attract a lot of attention and a wide fanbase? No, probably not, but I do feel like it's a step in the right direction. It's certainly a way of upgrading the content and it has a good chance of reaching a wider audience.
2025 will be a good year, or it'll be like any other year and have good and bad sprinkled throughout.
The only thing I can do is carry on as I am and see what happens. On the family side of things, everything is great, but I do feel like on the friends side of things we've dropped the ball a bit and I'd like to start making a bit more effort to socialise and get out once in a while.
Work is okay, even though I do have days where I absolutely hate it, but hey, I suppose we all get like that.
eBay has been great and I'm going to continue with it.
The model-making took a bit dip, and I want to change that because I do really enjoy that little hobby and would like to ramp it up a bit and produce a few videos of the process.
