what did you learn this year?

[titkitten]

A year to (largely) ourselves, life stripped back of the distractions and high frequency vibrations of """normal times"""... did you get introspective? Maybe you were forced to uncover a personal truth even though you didn't go looking for it? For me, the biggest lesson has been the emotional nutrition of Quality Interpersonal Time with people important to us. Even the ambient company from 4h of amicable silence in my (formerly) daily coffeeshop with the other familiar regulars was so nourishing. As an introvert of sorts, I feel like a cactus in a long drought -- don't need much water normally, but so parched in these """unprecedented times""".

Hoping everyone can hug a loved one soon.

[bels]

I put most of my effort into improving my aim in Apex Legends by using Novaak's aim trainer. I got pretty decent (i think) but then had a slightly awkward match where my friend rage quit and it triggered my social anxiety and I haven't played again since and when I log onto the Discord I put his server on mute.

[rjbman]

i learned a lot, unfortunately mostly negatives

• (neg) i cannot do long distance relationships. i had someone i was seeing right when covid started who had some high risk issues so we couldn't really hang out in person much, and it was just a non-starter for me.
  * (neg, at least for covid) i am def 100% extroverted. not having roommates, the bustle of the office, the crowded weekend bars... absolutely destroys me. i need people, dammit!
  * (neg/pos) building a [redacted] from scratch is doable but not the easiest thing, def cost me more than just having a [redacted] shop build it for me.
  * (pos) i like electronic music and can't wait to go to more shows

[maj]

i learned that my life is generally more impacted by the change of the seasons than a global pandemic, so i moved out of the wettest part of the uk

[p3rn]

I learned how to occupy my weekends without going to the club and how to make croissants from scratch

[seesaw]

i learned that i am a "noob" at dota2 and should "go back to league of legends"

[iral]

* In april or may I taught myself how to juggle
* Throughout this whole time I learned sourdough baking, mainly whole wheat sandwich loaves
* Last fall on a whim I took an intro to ballet class and learned a lot about my coordination and strength
* I also on a whim started taking voice lessons (which I'm still continuing), and I'm finding so much joy in singing (smiling)

@titkitten: I had a really great time w the ballet! It was my first time taking any sort of dance lessons and the first time in (too many) years doing an organized sport/activity like that. We would go through sequences of the different fundamental movements for ballet and then piece them together with short numbers at the end of the class, which was often hard for me as a relatively uncoordinated person. There were only 2 people in my class so the whole thing felt very inviting and friendly. Overall 10/10, one of the best classes I've taken in college thus far. Definitely fortunate to go to a school where these programs are so well funded and run (voice, ballet, etc.)...

[thewisdomoftime]

I read a lot of literature and a little of philosophy, sociology, etc.

I really love Sebald (not sorry), Proust (not sorry), Coetzee (sorry)

I'm finally learning Danish, which would [American voice]of course be my second language[/American voice] so I'm also simultaneously learning what learning a language is like. it's like hiking up a mountain that I'm not sure the height of, yeah?, you also fall in and out of love with hiking, summits fall into and out of sight, so on. Danish is also secretly voice lessons.

nerd shit aside I don't feel completely lost in the world and a good friend told me it's okay to accept that this is already an achievement / who I am / a culmination that doesn't have to end

I'm slipping into the I love you mindset

[titkitten]

@titkitten: I had a really great time w the ballet! It was my first time taking any sort of dance lessons and the first time in (too many) years doing an organized sport/activity like that. We would go through sequences of the different fundamental movements for ballet and then piece them together with short numbers at the end of the class, which was often hard for me as a relatively uncoordinated person. There were only 2 people in my class so the whole thing felt very inviting and friendly. Overall 10/10, one of the best classes I've taken in college thus far. Definitely fortunate to go to a school where these programs are so well funded and run (voice, ballet, etc.)...

oh wow i didn't know it was with your university. it's still so wild to me that (some) american universities are in-person as mine is all online at the moment. excited you had a good time with ballet -- i started ballet when i was 3 and went regularly until i was 20. growing up with it was really personally difficult, even though i loved it, so i was curious what it would be like for someone starting fresh. so happy to hear you enjoyed it. maybe we can do care-tags zoom ballet lessons hahaha.

nerd shit aside I don't feel completely lost in the world and a good friend told me it's okay to accept that this is already an achievement / who I am / a culmination that doesn't have to end

I'm slipping into the I love you mindset

***heartwarming***!!! becoming comfortable with yourself and developing trust in yourself are so important yet fraught!! love to hear that the social isolation and """un-pre-ce-dent-ed-times""" had a positive dimension for you, as a cocoon of sorts for (if partial) personal growth (love)

i've had a bit of an opposite experience myself, having graduated summer 2020 and starting a new job directly from home with almost no interaction whatsoever with any of my new colleagues -- felt like my life was stagnating, i was wasting all my time, i was lost and a little being unproductive... trying to remind myself that, if there is ever a time when it's ok to be less productive than usual, it is now.

[bels]

I learned I can do like, 60-80 pull ups a week and still have small arms.

[Ques]

i learned i dont enjoy making sourdough

[silvaeri]

i learned that i can actually work from home fulltime and it won't make me restless. i'm restless for other reasons, but i'm really enjoying not being in the office. anxiety related to work dropped almost immediately

[wrong]

I LOVE BREAD and bread making

[stolsdos]

Entirely negatives. Basically I am a lazy, depressed loser without adderall, lol. Hopefully in a few years I'll have built up enough self-discipline to stop taking it.

[Trench Witch]

Entirely negatives. Basically I am a lazy, depressed loser without adderall, lol. Hopefully in a few years I'll have built up enough self-discipline to stop taking it.

One thing that helped me get over this kind of feeling was to journal. If I take the time to write down what I did each day I tended to waste less time so I would have better stuff to write than "online shopping" and "stared into the void". sort of as a gift to myself in the future when I read back what I did over the week.

Also I highly doubt you are as much a loser as you think you are. I know several people on care tags that hold your taste in music in high regard.

[_Organism]

how to pour concrete, and frame a wall, and run electrical wiring, and plumbing, and dry walling, and how to use a circular saw, and and and

being a contractor with my dad this last year has been a really cool good experience. I feel very lucky I am coming out of this pandemic healthy with a LOT of valuable life skills and a better relationship with my family.

[foxtail_grass]

I learned I'm a pretty tough cookie.

Became a street medic and provided housing for the unhoused during the Minneapolis uprisings last summer. Got to utilize my experience in wealth/resource redistribution and harm reduction. Ended up joining an ongoing effort to provide hot meals to unhoused people throughout the metro.

Ended a two-year engagement that had begun to spiral. Saved a friend's life during his OD. These are related, unfortunately.

Moved twice, quit my job of three years and started a new one, and got laid off within three months.

Made peace with being unemployed for the first time in 8 years. Currently enjoying slower days and taking my time to look for work that doesn't appear soul-crushing.

Helping my friend renovate his house, top to bottom. Learned how to use an industrial sander last week. Tilled his backyard for veggies.

***
There have been many achievements I've wanted to unlock during the pandemic, like brushing up on Spanish and Japanese, starting to box, buying a dirtbike, etc. The fact that I haven't immediately mastered or even started many of them eats at me some days. However, my anxiety is so much quieter now. I am able to enjoy doing nothing, and feel restored by it. I think I may still be in the 'elimination' phase of ridding myself of residual mental clutter (i.e. feeling unproductive, recovering from trauma, etc). Here's hoping the energy provided by spring will push me into the 'starting new projects' phase!