Not much new on the horizon

a view
Photo: Mia

Recently, I haven’t learned new things. Only repeat old skills and lessons. So not much new on the horizon. Oh, except that there is no Pullquote block on WordPress anymore, so the quote gives me nightmares. The font is too big, and you can’t change the size. It just looks terrible on the post.

Now, when I think about what I’ve learned recently. I’ve learned that no matter what I do, I can’t seem to find graphic design clients. My savings are soon gone, and no money is coming in (except welfare). If I sold my flat, I could get money. But I can’t afford to hire a cleaner or moving people. Being unemployed blows. I only get bills, bills, bills.

Another thing I’ve learned, but it isn’t recent. It doesn’t matter what I post on Facebook, not even my relatives, no one reacts. But I post anyway just for myself. It’s nice to look back at the memories. People’s lives are so busy that they have no time to care about what I do. If I weren’t used to being alone, I would probably be depressed and distressed. Luckily, that’s only Facebook, and who takes that seriously?

There are always new things to learn. For example, you’re never ready to be creative because you can always get better and realise something you haven’t before. I’ve used Canva for 10 years, but I’m still learning. It gets updates, and new things come up. Then you learn the latest tools. The same goes for any app you use.

Learning new things is fun, and it makes life worth living. Especially if it’s something you love doing. It’s good for the brain to stay active.

Advent Calendar 2024 – Day 17

Christmas balls, stars and light part 17
Made with Canva

Is your life today what you pictured a year ago?

Daily Writing Prompt

Day 17

I didn’t think a year ago that my Dad would have passed away, for starters. You don’t expect something like that to happen. In January, he was hospitalized with inflammation of the pancreas, and on February 8, he was gone. I still feel sad when I think about it. His memory wasn’t as it used to be, and people say, in a way, it was a relief for me that I didn’t have to go through with his memory loss. That’s true, but he would still be here, and I wouldn’t be alone. He would have turned 80 on March 25. My mother died when she was 68. It makes me wonder how long I got, but with death, you never know. If you stay in that darkness, your life will be wasted. You go through grief for a while, but then you need to move on. Tears will fall occasionally, but then you keep living because that’s what your loved ones want.

A year ago, I didn’t think I would still be unemployed, but then again, I’m not surprised. Looking for work is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Apparently, it’s the same with finding clients for your business. That’s what I thought a year ago as well, to become an entrepreneur. But I have kept putting it off. If you have no clients, there is no business. That’s one of the reasons why I haven’t started. I can’t live on my savings forever. I’ve taken courses on how to be active on social media and how to promote yourself. But what worries me the most is what, if nothing, of those courses will get me clients. Have I wasted my time and money on nothing? Maybe I’m not good enough to be an entrepreneur. Perhaps I’m the problem, and I can’t learn anymore. Being active and posting regularly on social media isn’t the only solution. Those post needs to have decent content. You can’t post only for the sake of it. Starting something is the hardest, but you shouldn’t get into the darkness of your fears and worries. I look at my personal Instagram and see the lack of traffic there; it doesn’t give me much confidence in my professional one. You can’t compare those two because their purpose is different. Luckily, I will have people there to push me forward with my goals.

I don’t picture life ahead because you never know what will happen. Things may have changed a year from now. A lot can happen, whether it’s personal or worldwide. Life is short; it’s only how you live it. You can do something about some things, but there are things you can’t. As Gandalf in Lord of the Rings said,

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us”

The only that’s certain in this life is death and paying taxes. I certainly don’t want to do the first one in a long time.

There is no wise way to say this

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I’m not good at this advice-giving thing. I’m the one that looks for a wise answer. I could not make tutorial videos or give advice in a blog post. I can only give my opinion about things. They might not be wise, but I don’t give stupid ones.

I’m not good at advice, can I interest you in a sarcastic comment.

Chandler Bing in Friends

I couldn’t even give you a sarcastic comment. I can only tell about the things I know about or if I have experienced them. Even then, I’m sure others give much better advice than me.

I can help if I can, but if you ask me for advice about something else, then you should ask someone else. I can look it up if you want to know something. But if you expect me to write a blog post about it, then I’m not the one who can wise you up. Everyone is good at something and has things we can’t do. My weakness is giving advice, especially wise advice. Anyone can say what or how to do things. But if they make sense or not is a different matter.