Hello friends. I would like to partake in this meme for 2 reasons: 1. this decade has been a hell hole rollercoaster 2. depression, perfectionism, impostor syndrome etc make it easy for me to ruminate on the shit & hard for me to recognise & celebrate positive things https://twitter.com/stfutony/status/1193954501620690944

Like many others, the defining theme of this decade has been 'survival'. I've been through a lot of horrible shit (homelessness, being disowned by my family, severe mental illness, etc) and I spend a lot of time thinking about & being upset about these things...

Constantly revisiting these things all the time gives them power, allowing them to overshadow everything else I have ever done, & meaning that when depression hits bad those things are all I can think about. I need to learn to see the good because there has been a lot of it too

H/e, I recognize that reading other people's achievements can be difficult & exacerbate impostor syndrome stuff. But you are valid and worthy, you have achieved wonderful things too that deserve to be recognized for their own merits and not in comparison to others

So without further ado, let's get going w/ practicing positive reflection! This thread might get wordy bc how do celebrate w/o being wordy? Also people are likely gonna get tagged bc you have all been shining moments of this decade tbh

1. Attending & speaking at conventions has been one of the highlights of this decade bc cons have literally changed my life. I've met some of my best friends through cons, gotten the confidence to present my own work, & spoken alongside & hosted some of the most wonderful people

There are TOO many people to tag here bc it's basically every single person I've ever interacted w/ but special shoutout to my 9W crew. I'm where I am today bc of you all, bc of your friendship and support. So thank you all for making this decade as great as it was (*cries*)

2. Education - (mostly) w/i this decade if we cheat a little, I went from leaving secondary school w/ 1/2 a GCSE to starting my PhD and accumulated a 1st class BA and MA distinction along the way. Thank you so much to everyone for encouraging me to come back to academia...

Especially @SonOfSunTzu for sitting me down at the last 9W for a impacting talk and my #1 academia mentor @EmilyRMarlow for putting me on the path to doing a PhD involving video games, and @oryxbloc for always supporting me through all of the tears & believing in me

3. Likewise w/ housing, within this decade I've gone from homelessness and sleeping on friend's floors to being able to write this from the comfort of my own home that I share with my partner, looking out onto our garden and snuggling my dog

4. I became a book blogger at a difficult time in my life and it has given me more than I ever thought it would in return! I've met so many amazing friends, been to YALC twice, accumulated MANY books, and gotten to meet some of my favourite authors through blogging

Special shout outs to bloggers like @howlinglibrary, @northernplunder, @whatthelogsaid, @howlsmovinglib & many others for being great blog pals and @aliettedb, @EmApocalyptic, #BeckyChambers, & @akemidawn for making all my little book blogger dreams come true

5. I've accomplished playing through many, many games across over 6-7 different platforms which I've been fortunate enough to own, started writing for the incredible @SidequestZone, & had this article published by the wonderful folks of @POMEmag https://pome-mag.com/the-highs-and-woes-of-transmasculine-characters-in-video-games/

6. I know I mentioned cons already but I still can't believe I got to do my Queer Coding in Disney talk at 9W to ~100 people, give a presentation on animal rights in Jurassic Park, talk loads about books & Star Wars, & give a paper at the @LSFRC_ conf on Detroit: Become Human

Running out of steam so here are some bullet points:
- Finally got diagnosed w/ fibromyalgia
- Traveled abroad to & attended #Dublin2019 alone
- Had some cool jobs incl working w/ doggos for almost a year
- Got engaged?!
- Made lots of nice friends
- Kept on fighting