welcome to 2023; here are some links

january 12 2022

this update comes to you in three parts: site updates, life updates, and 2022 in review.

on the site updates side, a refresh. I changed the menu structure to better separate my work (writing and creations) from the lists of things I'm reading/watching/listening to (media diary). I cleaned up my about page, which is always the hardest page to write. I also pruned the web garden; some pages have disappeared or been cut back. most notably, the links page. those bookmarks may reappear at some point, but in the meantime, you can still find them at the old index while I figure out what/who I want to link to.

on the life updates side, I finished my year at The Writer's Studio. my short story "The Year of the Thunderstorm" appears in emerge22: The Writer's Studio Anthology (available on Amazon), in which I am one of 90 writers featured. you can also read that story here. my friends and I read 12 books for book club in 2022, and will be continuing in 2023. I deleted Twitter and TikTok off my phone. I watched more movies in December than the rest of the year combined. I took three weeks off work, and I didn't think about work at all over the holiday.

on the whole, how was 2022? challenging. I didn't always feel up to the challenge. maybe it's a symptom of my age, but this past year was rife with confusion and angst, alongside moments of great contentment and fulfillment. I feel like I am getting it all wrong while simultaneously believing that my life is, in most ways, better than it's ever been. I've been thinking a lot about Nina Simone's definition of freedom: no fear. I am afraid of wasting "my potential," whatever that means. but then I remember that when Mary Oliver wrote Tell me, what is it you plan to do / with your one wild and precious life?, she was writing about a summer day in which she knew "how to pay attention" and "how to be idle and blessed." freedom, through this lens, would not be the fearless pursuit of goals, but to live with no fear of goals unmet, because the only moments wasted are the ones in which we forget how to pay attention to the world. and if the grasshopper can do it, then so can I.

happy new year,
alicia