Surviving 2022

Look, I am over 40 years old and while I have had some amazing years in my life, I seem to remember the horrible ones much more vividly.

Isn’t that the way for everything? It sucks but it is true. Like I could post a piece of art and 100 people will rave and compliment it, but the one random person who shits all over it is the comment I remember. And it is the one that ruins the 100 wonderful comments. I hate that it hurts my confidence to do amazing things at times, but I am working on that.

Anyway, 2008 was probably one of the worst years of my life. Lost a house, a job, and was lost for a while. I love how people talk about gas prices today who do not even remember the shit economy we had under Bush. But guess what, as bad as it was, I survived.

2016 was another shit year. I swear I can relive watching the election results and just in disbelief. It was the start of four absolutely shitty years. But as bad as it was, I survived.

2018 was my worst year. It was one where I had a business and lost it. Had a drug addict partner who made my life hell before and after my company crashed. I was suicidal that year. I do not want to ever be that way again. In fact, I wont be. I did not sleep much that year. In fact, I cannot think about 2018 for that long of a time. But guess what, as bad as it was, I survived.

2020 was pure shit also. Finally getting back on my feet, the pandemic hit. It was a struggle. In fact, one of the mentally hardest years of my life. I am assuming that it was that was for so many. But the goal was to keep my family safe. And I achieved that goal. But guess what, as bad as it was, I survived.

We get to 2022. This year was a weird one. It started scary and a struggle. More than most. While art helped me over the last few years, it has not been as strong as inflation has gone up. I get that. Sports cards are declining. I wish more people were interested in them because I have so many theories on it. Sports cards in general are fascinating. So if you have not noticed, I am not promoting my art online. I will eventually reopen my Etsy store because I enjoy making art, but I have decided to bet on me a lot more. So many rough situations happened this year and I am not in a place to debate how bad my year was compared to others.

But I have made the decision to write. To focus on my Substack. To keep on Twitter. To be healthy. To workout with my son. To continue to be the best dad and person I can be. I have a ton of flaws and I focus on them often, but I think I need to focus more on my good qualities.

Funny story, my son is 13 and is not on social media, and it is for many reason. Most of the reasons are his decision. But last week I never heard of Andrew Tate. So my son was trying to tell me about one of the Paul brothers (I think Jake) because he saw some video on YouTube. All of the sudden he asked me if I knew who Andrew Tate was and for the life of me I have not heard of him until this week. I told him no and he said “Oh, well he is an absolute garbage human being but he was doing this thing…” and I do not remember what he was trying to tell me.

But the fact that my son could see through the money and Bugattis and huge homes and understand that this man who has proven time and time again is a garbage human made me feel like I was doing my part as a parent. No parent can monitor everything no matter what those without kids think. But you can show them the difference in right and wrong.

So yes, 2022 was a difficult year. But guess what…

We survived. Happy New Year.

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