Best of 2023
Happy 2024, friends!
2023 was WILD! This was the year I really, finally, pushed through my pandemic anxiety and rejoined humanity. I mean, I dabbled in it in 2022, but the anxiety won more often than not. This year, though, I (mostly) kicked anxiety’s ass! And so, in no particular order, my favorite things from 2023:
Hockey! Pandemic roller skating and the Seattle Kraken’s 21-22 inaugural season renewed my interest in hockey. I used to play a million years ago, but I stopped for a bunch of reasons. I’d skated and watched games here and there, but it wasn’t until the last half of 2021 that I really got back into ice skating and attending games. The literal first place I went in 2023 was to the ice rink! I decided then and there that I was going to play again this year. And I did! I went through a 6-week learn to play session just to get my legs back a little and make sure I didn’t hate it. Quite the opposite! I left the first session with a smile on my face that just wouldn’t stop! In spring I joined a league and played with them for the rest of the year! I said at the beginning of 2023 that I wanted to be more active and make more friends, and hockey allowed me to do both of those things. Going back to the game was easily one of the best decisions I made this year, and I can’t wait for the new season to start!!!
Travel! I traveled a little in 2022 - I went to Anaheim for Star Wars Celebration and Atlanta for DragonCon - but both trips were fun, but also terrifying panic-inducing super-spreader events. But 2023 was the year of going big! My friend and I went to freaking Copenhagen!!! It was my first time traveling outside of North America, my longest plane ride ever, and my first time attending a multi-day music festival. From a mental health perspective, it was going to be a real sink-or-swim kind of a trip. And the most surprising thing happened - it cured my anxiety! All those days of crowded airports and airplanes and train stations and museums and busses and festival grounds was the immersion therapy I needed! I went home feeling like I could handle any big crowded social event life threw at me! Also, that trip was amazing! We saw buildings older than America, the Danish Crown Jewels, rode the third oldest roller coaster in the world, ate amazing food, saw 32 bands, and partied with the nicest, coolest, most fun group of metalheads on the planet! It was a mind-blowing trip!
Electric Callboy! I discovered this band in January, when they were announced as part of the lineup for Copenhell, the festival we attended. They immediately became my new favorite band! I listened to them all spring and they were top of my must-see list at the festival. And they did not disappoint! Their music was fun and heavy and weird, the crowd loved them, and there was so much fire and confetti! They were easily the highlight of the weekend! That was June. I went home and learned they were touring North America! And their first show was Portland in August! And, somehow, it was already sold out? So I paid a completely irresponsible amount of money to buy a resale ticket. It is the most I’ve ever spent on a regular concert ticket. WORTH IT!!! That was easily one of the best shows I’ve ever been to. The venue was small, it was peak summer and 100 degrees outside and even hotter inside, and I was in the middle of a crazy depression. But the show was insane! The vibe was fun, the crowd was full of energy, there shot confetti cannons FIVE TIMES! and they and their supporting band, Solence, were exactly the therapy I needed in that moment. (Fuck the bad vibes!) I walked away from the show with an answer to a question that had been weighing on me and the clarity and courage to follow through. That show was the perfect event at the exact right moment, and it literally changed my life (see point 4). I spent the rest of the year listening to Electric Callboy whenever I needed a mood boost, and I listened to them on New Year’s Eve, with We Got The Moves queued up to hit “Döp-dödödö-döp” right as the clock struck 12! They were my most-listened-to band in 2023, no doubt they’ll rank high in 2024 too!
Art! I quit my day job this year! I’d been feeling like it was time to go for a while, and I knew that sticking around was having a negative effect on my mental health, and I’m surrounded by so much art in this city I thought, why not me? And, with the help of Josh and Dana and the encouraging and therapeutic lyrics of Electric Callboy and Solence, I decided that there was no time like the present. I could either sit around being tired and sad, or I could go all-in and take my shot! Fortune favors the bold, right? You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take! 2023 was the year I reconnected with activities I used to love - hockey, travel, live music - art needed to be on that list as well. So I quit my job and, after a period of moping and panicking and wondering what the fuck was I thinking and what the fuck was I going to do, I started to make some digital art again. And then I started to paint again! And I remembered just how important a creative practice is to my life, my happiness, and my mental health. So far it’s been trash on my bank account, but baby steps. The act of creating was what was most important this year, and I’m back in it and I couldn’t be happier!
Star Wars! I mean, Star Wars is never not amazing, but OMG did you see Ahsoka?! I rewatched The Clone Wars and Rebels this year to prepare for Ahsoka, and wow, that’s such good Star Wars. And Ahsoka was such a perfect follow-up. Dave Filoni has done a lot of things right, but top of the list has been how well he’s brought animated characters into live action. All the Rebels characters were just spot-on perfect. I won’t talk about the plot, just in case anyone still hasn’t seen it, but just wow. It was perfect and I can’t wait to see these friends again!
People! Josh. Blitzen. My favorite travel friend and concert buddy. My hockey teams. All the friends I reconnected with this year and the new friends I made. Electric Callboy. Dave Filoni. Bob Ross. Henry Rollins. It’s been a year of healing and growth and adventure and I can’t wait to see what’s next!
I drew this very silly image (in black) at the beginning of 2023, I colored in the things I accomplished at the end of the year and greyed out the things I didn’t do. New Year’s resolutions are always tough, but I think I kind of nailed it this year!
(Full credit, this sketch was not my idea, but I can’t remember who suggested it. Sorry, dear unknown internet genius artist! I owe you one!)
