I wanted to write a bit of a generic update post, and since I can’t fathom the idea of a post without an attached picture... I had to search one out. This snapshot I took a few days ago surprisingly touches pretty well on the goings on of my life recently.
I was kicking back and playing a bit of the video game Kingdom Hearts in the glow of my freshly decorated apartment.
At the beginning of the month my mother was diagnosed with cancer and it impacted me. Productivity took a nosedive, I’ve struggled with a bit of anxiety and depression, and the vast majority of my time was thereby relegated to lying on the sofa staring blankly at hours upon hours of Storage Wars and Master Chef episodes. I do not cook, nor do I own a storage locker... so go figure.
A good friend came by to visit, and make arrangements to “cat-sit” for me as I’d arranged a few days off from work at Christmas to spend time with mom and the family out of state. Upon seeing that I had absolutely no Christmas decor, she insisted that needed to change and a short while later I had lights, a stocking for the cats, and a mini tree. I’ll begrudgingly admit... I kinda dig it. It’s not so much commemorating the holiday for me, instead those little glowing lights serve the more important purpose of reminding me that at any given moment, there are supportive and caring people out there for me.
I guess I was cheered enough to make the leap from mindlessly staring at sub par reality television, to instead mindlessly button mashing some video game play. So I snagged the “Complete Edition” of Kingdom Hearts, which includes a preorder for the soon to be released Kingdom Hearts III, as well as the first two games and all other previously released material. I loved the first game when it came out 15 years ago and it’s fun revisiting it so far. Like many of the things that I enjoy and cherish, perhaps that’s because it reminds me of a simpler and better period in my life.
I just got back from my trip this afternoon. Mom’s doing ok but it’s still very early in treatment... too soon to know how the disease is responding, and she’ll be feeling a lot worse before hopefully feeling better, so there’s hard times ahead. The cats were well cared for and there’s even a surprise of fresh baked cookies in my otherwise barren refrigerator. I’ll be doing my best to self medicate the fatigue and anxiousness with large doses of sugar, comic books, and video games. Yep, I’m hitting the hard stuff.
Steem is a great outlet and support as always. 
While I’ve been a mostly “silent partner” of late, know that I’m always reading and enjoying. I long ago switched off any auto voting activities, so when you see an upvote on one of your posts from me, know that it’s because I really did see your stuff and value you.
I’ll be trying my hardest to come out swinging as we ring in 2019. Writing, drawing, interacting, & living life I guess... I still see great things ahead for Steem, all of you, and even myself... even if there’s some terrible setbacks to overcome along the way.
So... onward and upward I go...
Because let’s face it, there’s no choice. In real life there’s no option to Start New. All you can do is Load Saved Game and keep working at it.
- Bryan “the Imp” Imhoff
