2025 has arrived

It is the 2nd of January and I am now in my 61st year on this planet called Earth, let's give that a bit of perspective to show how important this is:

8 planets in the solar system (maybe 9)

400 billion planets in the Milky Way

21.6 trillion planets in the Local Group

2 quadrillion planets in the Virgo Supercluster

21.6 sextillion (21,600,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) planets in the observable universe

(Taken from skiesandscopes.com)

My celebrations on the 29th were special for me as I was around people I love, cherish and who have had a tremendous impact on where I am now and who I am. It was great to do colouring in (A great therapy for my anxiety, depression and stress) with the younger folk. Then catching up with those that I have not seen a while including my God children. The following day I had cocktails with two excellent colleagues and shared memories and chuckles. The 31st was less of an occasion and nothing to write home about. I had the last couple of beers with a friend and was in bed by 10pm for snoring and REM.

2025 will be a year where I attempt to go without alcohol, so far so good and I am already 1 and a half days in. The good news is my over 60’s oyster card is in the post so lots of travel on the horizon. I collected my 60+ membership to a local cinema for a mere £11.25 P.A. This will help me as I try and get a few more arty films under the belt at a price that suits my wallet. 

Another aspect of my life has been the constant doom scrolling that melts the minutes, hours and days away like they never existed. Psychology Today says “Addiction happens when you start to need a particular stimulant to feel good or fulfilled. Explore other, more positive and healthy alternatives to achieve the gratification you seek.”

So this year I am going to attempt to restrict my unhealthy desire to watch inane, mind numbing and pointless short videos that have done nothing apart from harm to my own mental progression. Ways I will attempt to control this will be with this blog to distract my attention from watching a cat bark like a dog. Keeping a written journal along with this blog to encourage more writing and engage my brain in activities more conducive to positive mental stimulation. On top of this I am going to write more letters and postcards to people  to try and be more creative and engaging with those around me. 

According to statista.com:

“During the third quarter of 2023, internet users in the United Kingdom (UK) spent an average over six hours per day accessing the internet via any device. UK online audiences spent approximately one hour and 49 minutes per day on social media, while an additional hour was spent using a gaming console daily.”

One hour and 49 minutes, on average, just on social media. Time to stop one would argue. So it's time for more reading, writing and developing rather than imploding.

Before I sign off I would like to point out that the Guardian App that is free to download and has a lot of free content. I have been tuning into their long read podcasts which are informative, productive and are distracting me from the desire to scroll for another 2 hours.

Bye for now.