Collaboration with a Purpose: Reflections – The Best and Not-So-Best Things About My 2017

Wow, it’s already December! Time really flies. And yet I still sometimes feel like I’m just about halfway through the year… where did all my time go? 😱

So yesterday I published the intro post for this month’s Collaboration with a Purpose (Hey, I did tell you my soon is extra soon this time. 😆) and this time the theme is Reflection! As I’ve mentioned before, this theme is for us to pause and reflect on the year 2017; how well it has gone for us, what lessons we have learned from it, anything we love, hate or feel ambivalent about in 2017. 😀

Before we get to my story, here’s a little bit about 2017 in general – or rather, 2017 in numerology, since there are so many possible ways of looking at the year! In numerology, 2017 is a 1 Universal Year, and the following quote explains it better than I do:

So what about this 1 Universal Year?
(…) The 1 Universal Year is the beginning of a new cycle. In Numerology, it’s a year where we’ll all feel a bit of relief that things are moving forward, even if the onset is slow. Momentum will pick up a few months into 2017, as the fog lifts and change gradually unfolds into something tangible.

The energy of the 1 is all about independence, initiation, achievement, and creative individuality. 2017 is the beginning of a new chapter—a year of initiation for a whole new 9-year cycle that will occur on a global scale.
~From Astro Style: Numerology: 5 Keys to Success During the 1 Universal Year

Sounds interesting, doesn’t it? Let’s see if my 2017 happened that way!

---

The Best Things About My 2017

I Started Blogging Here, Met Incredible People and Were Even Nominated for Awards!

Yep, I started this blog in mid February 2017; not even a year yet! When I see the difference between first / second posts and a more recent post I’ve written, I feel like I’ve come a long way. 😃

Ever since I started blogging, I’ve met all kinds of incredible, kind and supportive people, especially after joining the Collaboration with a Purpose family! Being a semi-reclusive online person before this blog, I’d been wary about meeting strangers and even worried about receiving scarily negative comments (having read scary stories about what happened to some people…), but thankfully none of that happened to me!

Honestly I was surprised at the love and support I’ve received so far, and some of you awesome people even nominated me for awards! Thanks very much to all of you for your love and support, I really appreciate them. ❤

I’ve Conquered Some Fears!

I previously wrote about how I’ve used pseudonyms instead of my real name in all of my online life, and yet I’ve received so much love and support throughout blogging here that I felt safe enough to reveal my online pseudonyms and the stories I’ve written!

And then I’ve received even more love and support on my online pseudonym and stories reveal that I’ve felt even safer to reveal my wedding pictures (with my husband’s agreement, of course), and I’ve received yet even more love and support on that!

I’ve definitely come a long way from 2016. I mean, I wouldn’t have even thought of revealing so much of myself this year and even receive positive comments about it! I really love you people. ❤

I’ve Broke Through the Writers’ Block that Made Me Stuck for Two Years!

Would you believe I’ve been stuck trying to write a particular story for five years? And the latest chapter for two of those years? Because of that, I ended up not writing much for those five years unless it was NaNoWriMo time (and even then I wrote something else). 😅

The good news is that I broke through the writers’ block that got me stuck! I finished writing that particular chapter a couple of months ago, and even though the whole story itself hasn’t finished, it’s still progressing! 📝📖📚

I Won NaNoWriMo for the 6th Consecutive Year!

Every year I’d take part in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and attempt to write 50,000 words of a novel, every year I’d always have that heavy feeling in my heart wondering if I’d ever make it, and every year I’d blow my own expectations and win, including NaNoWriMo 2017 that was just over a few days ago!

That goes to show I could do it if I really wanted to. 💪🏻

I’ve Gotten More Into Gaming!

Don’t get me wrong; I’ve always been a gamer and play video games whenever I have the time!

It’s just that for many years I’d lost faith in the gaming industry because many of the new games that came out didn’t really capture me like the old ones did. I felt bored. So in the end I just replayed all the old games I’ve played before instead of trying new ones, mostly because I didn’t want to spend money and feel disappointed again. 🙁

This year, though, I decided to jump head first into the gaming market and was surprised at the selection, and I’ve gotten quite a few recent games that I fell in love with! I even picked up window shopping for games as a side hobby and window shopped so much that I wrote an introduction to buying games for beginners post, though I had to stop because my gaming backlog became so large that I won’t be able to finish them before next year comes. 😆

I’ve Learned More About Myself!

Learning that I’m actually a highly sensitive person and outgoing introvert (instead of a confused introvert) really helped me to adjust my daily routine and habits to make me feel better for most of the days! Little things like ordering decaffeinated coffee (caffeine makes me jump high and then crash badly) and not feel bad when I need alone time. 😀

Plus I don’t feel bad that I don’t have that one passion to stake my life on, because I have passion for so many things that I’d like to do them all! Everything seems so fun, I only wish I have more time in a day. 😆

---

The Not-So-Best Things About My 2017

Spending on Online Video Games

Sometimes my husband and I play online games because it’s more fun to play games with him and a bunch of friends, but the problem with these games is that there are a lot of microtransactions in these games to the point we call them free-to-play, pay-to-win games. Once one starts spending just a bit to enhance the gaming experience, it’s really hard to stop. 💸💸💸

Earlier this year was such a time where my husband and I played an online game, and we ended up spending more than I expected. Luckily I kept track of how much we spent, and unluckily it was way more than I’d spend on a single offline game! And all that to just finally quit one day, because the #1 player on the server could squish us by throwing his seemingly bottomless source of cash into increasing his power, regardless of our efforts. 🙁

So, lesson learnt? No more free-to-play pay-to-win online games, only one-time-purchase games that we could play together. 🎮

Work, As Usual

Well, I’m in one of those not-so-well paid office jobs that I don’t really enjoy, but I stayed because of the flexible work arrangements (I could work from home 2 – 3 times a week), nice bosses and the fact it doesn’t take much of my mental power so that I could spend more energy on things that I actually enjoy, like gaming, writing and blogging!

But, well, sometimes I wonder what I could do with my life. I put some thought into that one day, and it turns out I really just want to play and do whatever I want every day… and that isn’t exactly going to help me earn a living, is it? 😅

Surgery

Less than four months ago, I had a surgery to remove a pretty big fibroid – that was my first stay at a hospital, and of course having a health issue isn’t fun. 🙁

The bright side? I recovered pretty well (though not 100% yet), and it was really nice having almost two months off work and enjoy myself doing indoorsy stuff even though I’m not supposed to move too much. 😆

---

My 2017 in General

I’d say it’s been great! Lots more pluses than minuses, and it certainly fits the numerology description of a year for independence, initiation, achievement and creative individuality. 😀

I’ve certainly initiated lots of stuff (including this blog!), and I’ve certainly achieved quite (and not just video game achievements 😛). Not so sure about the independence part, though I did get back into more creative this year!

I certainly wouldn’t have done all that without all of you amazing people – my husband, my family, my friends (especially my best buddy!) and you, my blogger friends and family! Thank you for this great 2017 and I hope we’ll have a better one in 2018. ❤

---

Hope you enjoyed reading this post! What do you think of it? How did your 2017 go? Do let me know below and do check out the other collaborators’ posts in the links below!

~Nicolle ❤

A Short Self-Compassionate Letter

Dear Self,

You’ve certainly come a long way from 2016; I’m so proud of your achievements and the fact you don’t feel too bad about the “dReflection 2k17 Collabowns” of 2017! You can definitely achieve anything if you put your mind to it, and it doesn’t matter what others think as long as you’re happy with your life and achievements. I hope 2018 will be an even better year for you. ❤

---

Read More on Collaboration with a Purpose: Reflections

• Barb Caffrey @ Barb Caffrey’s Blog: Reflections on 2017
• Divyang Shah @ i think my way: Reflection 2k17 Collab
• Ipuna Black: 2017 Reflections
• Jane Love @ Harmonious Joy: The Need to Reflect
• Jothish Joseph @ TheJothishJosephBlog: Mr. 2017
• Mylene C. Orillo: 4 Things I Learned About Life This 2017
• Sadaf Siddiqi: The Year’s Reflection.
• Sonyo Estavillo @ ‘Lil Pick Me Up: Goals & Reflections: I’m Not Quite There, But I’m Not Where I Was!

Collaboration with a Purpose Index