TGIF: 2023 Is the Year to Try (Patreon)

Hello and happy last Friday of 2022, patrons! How are we all doing today? Elliott and I are back in LA after a whirlwind week of family Christmas shenanigans. We got to taste the fucking frigid air of Philadelphia (Elliott got to reluctantly wear his first real adult pair of long underwear, I'm so proud of him) and then we scooted down to Florida to spend time frolicking amongst the intermittent Trump signs and extra tanned retirees that seem to spend 24 hours a day power walking. So festive! 

As the year comes to a close have you thought about any goals/resolutions/plans/loose ideas or concepts you'd like to focus on for 2023? Resolutions never seem to stick for me, I think I've conditioned myself to see them as a list of cliches that I end up created just to say I've participated in the act of resolutions. Kinda like going to confession in Catholic church. I grew up going to CCD, which apparently stands for Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, but as forth graders we said it stood for Central City Dump (because we were HILARIOUS). CCD is like the night school that Catholic kids who didn't go to Catholic school had to go to so they could still receive sacraments in the Catholic church. And every few months they would make all of us line up and go to confession with the priests. There would be like 6 priests set up behind individual privacy screens in the gym and we would line up and go sit with the next available priest. It was basically like going to the bank. Once we sat down we'd have to confess to the priest the sins we had committed and he would tell us what penance, or set of prayers, we had to go home and do so that we could be forgiven by the big guy in the sky. I remember we all hated doing it and would sit in line and try to come up with easy sins we could rattled off. "I fought with my brothers" "I said swear words" "I didn't listen to my parents" ... that kinda generic bullshit. And I always prayed (ironically) that I got the old, tired, annoyed priest that seemed like he equally hated confession and never asked you any follow up questions on your sins and gave everyone a 'say three hail mary's' penance. You never wanted the young, eager priest that would keep you in confession to ask you more specifics about your sins and 'go deep' with you about why you think you did those things. This isn't therapy buddy, but I'll tell ya I probably did them because I'm sick of carrying the weight of my parents Catholic guilt around all day and needed to blow off some steam. Speaking of, have you ever considered therapy, young priest, it might help you figure out why you ended up in this hell hole.  

I KID, I KID. Religion can be meaningful and important. 

Aaaaaaanyway, the feverishly coming up with generic confessions reminds me of how I've crafted resolutions in the past. So they never really stick. Because they've never really been real/honest to me, I guess. But as of late I've been drawn to thinking of a word to fuel my motivation for next year. Michael Buckley has talked about this on his IG story if you watch him and I've always thought it sounds nice to give yourself a word (or words) to ground you throughout the next year but I've never actually done it. The other day I had a lil pang of inspiration (it might have been a finger snapping off from the south jersey cold) and I realized I wanted to focus on the word "try" (or "trying") for next year. I'd like to try more. In many different aspects of my life. Not try in the sense of pushing myself for the sake of pushing myself, or trying to fake mutter hail mary's for the lord's forgiveness, or in the Try Guy never ending content factory sense, but try in the sense of letting myself get curious and give things a shot and then maybe keep giving things a shot. Explore things and ideas, expand out of my comfort zone, be present in the experience. Try shit. 

In the last two years of school I've let myself kinda sink back and focus on learning and observing who I am in this moment where I find myself in a very liminal space. It feels very in between at the moment. I don't know for sure what's next but I know where I came from so I find myself in a transitional point in time. And, turns out, to discover what's next I need to start trying some things. Engage some active curiosity and act on things that engage me. Try shit. And that sounds nice to me. Thinking of the new year in those terms gets me excited. Especially because it feels like it applies to all aspects of my life rather than solely in a work sense. It's a word I can come back to when I feel stuck or down or overwhelmed. "Well, why don't you just try it." It helps combat the perfectionist-procrastinator that looms in my person, and reminds me that I don't need to have everything figured out. I can just try it. Also one of my christmas gifts from Elliott this year was a Kitchenaid so obviously I gotta TRY to make some cakes. Watch out, GBBO! A below average baker is gonna Koolaid man her way into that tent! Side note, if you have any baking recipe recommendations PLEASE SEND! 

So that's where I'm at so far in my new years brain. I might fuck around and add another word or two to the mix but for now I'm gonna focus on trying shit next year. What comes up for you guys when you think about the next year? Any words or goals or ways you're thinking about it? Let me know! I love hearing how people are setting themselves up for success in the new year! Fuck penance, 2023 is all about peace of mind and personal prosperity! Amen! See, religion can be meaningful and important. 

OKAY! 

I'm gonna wrap this up but I can't end it without sprinkling a little cringe to say thank you SO much for being part of our patreon this year. I really love this weird little community and definitely plan on trying more shit here with y'all throughout next year! I hope you have a safe and silly new years! See ya in 2023! 2022 got weird! ❤️G