A bold title to be sure - but why? In summary, this year, began by a return to work, whereupon, on my first day back i the office, a massive restructure of the company I once worked for was announced. With it, I had the opportunity to opt into a retrenchment package, which eventuated in April. Not only did this catapult me into a financial future four years beyond the present day, it also gave me the chance to fill the year pursuing passions.
While I've been quiet on Hive recently, I haven't been quiet on Hive this year. You can use my Hive Report Card to summarise your 2025 on chain. Spotify wrapped, eat your heart out. Click posts from all time, then change the filter to "Year to Date". Voila. You can see your achievements, or witness your commiserations.
This year, I wrote a lot of fiction, a lot of words, and in earnest, unexpectedly, and with little direction, started a writing project that I am still calling Mosaic, a series of seemingly unconnected stories, all set in the same world, that will be tied together.
I'll be doing something with those in the new year, or at the very least, that is my goal. It all started when I wanted to rewrite my story The Oak Edition, and I did just that. I started (and then, sadly - stopped) attending a local writing group, where I made the realisation that transitioning from sharing writing online to sharing it with people in person wasn't so scary.
Then I was aksed to run a writing workshop. This was just a week after I closed my solo photographic exhibition, Myth.
I wrote extensively about Myth. Many years have flicked over on various calendars since I last collated my work into an exhibition that existed in a physical space. You could say I wrote a trilogy about the experience.
First there was the foreshadowing, then the opening, the the ending. And then, there's still the unsold images sitting in my wardrobe, waiting for a new home, or to be shown again in a different place at a different time. Or perhaps they will sit there and they will rot as the happy creative output that no one wants to throw money at. I still sail a bitter ship of being afraid of success when it comes to to my photographic practice.
The paragraphs above cover the time frame from October 10 to the present day. The best part of my year, was probably the time I had off. It was used to develop these projects, and a whole lot more, and to enable myself to also constantly, and continually enter the gym - where I have continued to make progress. I've eaten good food (both the nutritious and delicious kind) - I've gotten stronger, healthier, and happier - and more confident in general.
This has truly been a year where I have executed in the trifecta of whatever it means to be successful, only three things isn't really enough. Physically, Creatively, Intellectually, Socially, and Financially, I've been content.
Of course, more financial comfort was to come with the new job that I started about a month ago - and it is something that I am thoroughly enjoying and can see myself doing for quite some time. It brings me back full circle, however, to Hive.
In 2025, Hive helped me, through my own "self-publishing" of so many different projects and so many different pieces of introspection to reflect, hope, worry, and earn a tiny little bit of recompense for my efforts. However, even as one of the most regularly rewarded writers on the platform, people might think "great, you're doing well!" - but Hive is not and never will be, and never should aspire to be symbol of economic and financial independence.
In 2025, where I began my tenth year posting things to an immutable blockchain, I learned that it is the fabric of the relationships that are formed on the chain (and those that orbit in a funny elliptical, roundabout pattern) are what gives Hive its true value. No matter what Hive is worth relative to BTC, the dollar, an ounce of metal - the core function of hive is not disturbed by its price fluctuations.
People come and go, but people might come and go for their own reasons. I have been more gone than present recently, but that is owing to the fact that I have 14 hours a day less than what I did throughout most of the year. That time, each fortnight, spent in a workplace, gives me about the value of my entire Hive account every two weeks, which must be used to put food on the table, stave off the bill collectors, and enable my myriad fancies for further stretching my mind toward new creative realms.
Looking to the future, you might come to expect one or two posts a month from me. They won't always be updates or reflections like this. They might be rants. They might be words about a concert, a record, or a book I've read. But I'll say something if I'm not happy. That's when I have the most to say.
I am happy at the end of 2025, and I hold no reservations at all at labeling it as the best year of my life. So far.
Many of you contributed to making it feel that way, and I hope to see you all reflecting upon the same sorts of things. Now, I leave you with the ugliest, most professional photo of myself that I took this year, in my garage.
I'd say see you next year, but I hope to post a few more things before the year is out.