Who Will Miss 2018? Not Me!

And not just because of the madness that is our government right now. While a lot of good things happened, one major bad thing messed with me. Last summer I was all set for an actual non-working weekend vacation at an anime convention and planning for a couple of new shows in the fall. Then I came home to find the floor of my front porch sagging.

If you’re a homeowner, this scenario may be familiar. I called a contractor for what looked like a relatively quick fix. But the deeper he got into the repair, the more issues he found. That meant involving the city, which meant paying an architect along with subcontractors, and city permits and inspections.

I cancelled the vacation (of course too late to get a refund).  I dropped shows I hadn’t paid for yet, gritted my teeth, and started paying for my own personal money pit.

The porch at the halfway point of the repair and the final results. They finished in the summer but I didn't take a picture then (shot this fast — it's COLD outside).

Good news: I now have a beautiful porch that will last lifetimes. Bad news: The final total was over $25,000 and sucked up most of my savings and required a loan I will be paying off for the next four years. It means fewer shows and no “non-essential” purchases for a while, but I think of the 800,000+ affected by the government shutdown and l’m thankful it didn’t happen when I had no financial options.

The Lessons of 2018 for the New Year: Your best defense – and offense – is your mindset. When bad stuff happens, it’s OK to get mad. But don’t stay in that place long. Redirect that energy to finding solutions. Be determined to always move forward. Focus on finding ways to get to an even better position than you had before.

So for me 2019 will be the year of new ideas, new art, and creating new income streams. May this new year be a productive, positive one for us all!