It's tiiiiiiiiiime. You guys know I do my annual reflection at the end of the year. This is a blogging tradition I've been doing for years, long before I had my website. This is where I take the time to reflect on my accomplishments throughout the year, experiences that impacted me, what worked, what didn't work, and what I hope to improve on going forward.
I must say, I think it's kind of hilarious that I started my Reflecting on 2019 post saying, "2020. The year of perfect, clear vision is finally here." What a joke. 
Anyways, let's jump into what 2020 was for me.
2020 was totally unexpected. Obviously, nobody really saw this year coming. The pandemic, the countless deaths, the world literally being on fire, the list goes on. I definitely want to touch on some of those things, but I don't want this entire post to be about negative, depressing topics. Mostly because 2020 wasn't really depressing for me, personally.
Surprisingly....I actually had a pretty decent year in the grand scheme of things? I think I experienced the worst of this year during the first half, and even then, I've had far worse years. Obviously, tons of people were lost this year. My condolences go out to everyone who lost family members, friends, and others they cared about. I can't imagine what you all must be going through. My heart truly goes out to those that felt depressed and alone this year.
I was fortunate enough to come out of this year with all of my loved ones, and that means so much to me. It's a true blessing to know that the people I love and care about stayed safe this year, and I hope it continues to be that way going forward throughout this pandemic. A few of the many deaths that shook my world this year were the losses of Shad Gaspard, Naya Rivera, Chad Bosewick, and Kobe Bryant. There were obviously tons of other lives lost throughout the year, but these were the four that resonated the most with me. My heart goes out to all of their families, because to us, they may have been celebrities that we looked up to, but that's nothing in comparison to their families losing their sister, brother, wife, husband, mom, or dad.
Aside from the obvious negativity surrounding the pandemic, I was fortunate enough to have a different experience than a lot of people this year. I had a job throughout the entire year, I didn't mind being at home nearly as much as others, and I got to see the people I care about pretty often. I'm a natural homebody, so even though I missed going to the movies and amusement parks, I didn't feel depressed being at home.
In hindsight, I accomplished a lot of things this year that I'm very proud of:
Podcasts + Books: For years, I've been wanting to get back into reading, and this year, I read a lot more books. I read The Secret, Love and Other Words (SUCH A GOOD FREAKIN' BOOK. I'm not an avid romance reader, but damn, this book had me in my feels), Act Like a Lady, and The World of Cyberpunk. I think that's it. It may not be a lot to some of you, but it's a lot to me because I haven't really read too much in years, so. 
I also listened to tons of podcasts and I learned so much. This year, I listened to podcasts the entire year for the first time ever. You could say I'm obsessed now.
New Space: If you've been keeping up, you'd know that I started the year off living with my bestie. That was quite the experience, lol. I was going through a much-needed transition and moving into my house. I now have a space that I'm completely obsessed with. There's a few things left to do with my space, but I just love it. I love coming home, going to sleep, and waking up to a place that is so aesthetically pleasing to my soul.
Landed a Full Time Job: I was already at the job I'm at towards the end of 2019, but I was working as a contractor. I was hired on fulltime, during the pandemic, in May. Which was a complete blessing in itself, because I had to watch as other people lost their jobs over and over again. I am so thankful to work somewhere that's better than my last job, lol.
Growth: The past few years were kind of suckish in many personal areas such as self care, finances, anxiety, the whole bit. I experienced depression, and I just wasn't taking care of myself as a whole. 2020 was the year I got out of that rut. I lost a ton of weight, spent and made more money than I ever have in my life *shout out to Amazon*, meditated, exercised, and really took care of myself. I splurged on myself this year, and it felt really good. I exercised 4 days a week starting April 6th, and I'm still going. I started eating much healthier. I let my hair grow out and get healthy. I'm thriving.
Launched My Website: Tomorrow on New Years will be the one year anniversary of when this website launched. Even though I didn't take this website as far as I would've liked to, I'm happy it exists. It's such a fun, pretty place to update you guys, and I love coming to this website and looking at what I created. It reminds me of how creative and talented I am, and that makes me happy. 
Rewatched + Caught Up On Shows: I rewatched the entire run of That's So Raven this year, and it really made my inner child happy. My best friend had never watched the show, and I watched all four seasons with her on Disney+ and that was great. I also started rewatching The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and some other shows. I caught up a bit more on shows like The Challenge and Are You The One, and that felt great, because I've been telling myself I was gonna do that for years. 
Made New Friends + Ditched Old Ones: Every year, I lose touch with people who aren't meant to be in my life, and I'm cool with it. I made a few great friends this year, who I'm so thankful for. They really made my year, and kept me sane when I was feeling like flying off the handle, so shout out to y'all + shout out to our group chats, 'cause those be poppin'. 
Returned to YouTube: YouTube is my first love, so it was fun finally returning back after being gone for like 11 months. I've been on a roll on YouTube, and being in a space that's so motivating now makes it so much easier to create content I'm proud of. I bought tons of new equipment and created a gaming setup that's to die for. I rebranded my entire channel this year with new personalized intro + outro audio & visuals, along with other things I've always wanted.
Joined KeenGamer: This is an announcement I wanted to throw in the mix, but I am now a writer for KeenGamer! I've always loved writing and I've always loved gaming. Now, I get to work with a team doing two things that I absolutely adore, and it feels great. I am going to continue writing on my website, of course, but I will now be writing on there too. So please support me. Go over there from time to time and check out my content, like my posts, comment, share, etc. 
Visited The Mountains: I've never been in the mountains before, and recently, I was able to go for the first time, and it was a very beautiful view. It was also traumatizing having my ears popping like crazy, and also getting caught on the side of a mountain in a thunderstorm. 
Donated: Even though I spent more money on myself this year than I ever have, I also donated to charities and people in need. That was one of my goals for this year, and it felt good to give to other people. Outside of donating to people, I did a lot for the people in my life too -- a lot of surprising people with food, buying random gifts, etc. Giving to others was one of my favorite things to do this year, and I want to do it even more in 2021.
This year was crazy, but it was also very fun and I learned a lot. I ignored negativity and honestly, didn't have that much drama this year. When you ignore people's existence, that's what happens. Peace and quiet. But let me not end this post on a petty note. 😇😂 I'm excited to see what's to come for 2021. I'm hopeful that next year will be much better for all of us. My goals for next year is to keep up with most of the things I've been doing in 2020. I want to continue making other people and myself happy. I don't want to go into 2021 with too many expectations either, because I made that mistake with this year, and nothing went as planned. I thought I was gonna be booty popping at the Bieber concert and drooling over Kehlani, but that got canceled and went to shit, didn't it. 😀😀😀😀😀
Anyways....😂
Let me know some of the good things that happened for you all this year in the comments. Be sure to check out my reflection video on my YouTube channel too, because I will be discussing some of the things I mentioned in this blog over there as well.
xo babes, Variety Princess
Really the only good thing that happened to me this year was having you. A lot went wrong for me when it wasn’t supposed to and you were there for me ❤️ Here’s to a better year in 2021!