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My Intentions for 2024

My Intentions for 2024

This blog has been somewhat a ghost town for a while now. I guess I've been occupied mostly with my YouTube channel. At one time this blog and the videos were married in the sense the content overlapped, but as time has gone by I've mostly had to toss out anything I can to stay on track to avoid only having time for creating content enough for a handful of uploads a year. It's not that I am trying to maximise my output for the sake of it. It's nothing like that, really. I just want to keep up with the pace that I enjoy the hobby at on a personal level.

As I largely neglected this blog I'd like to address it. But I'm trying to avoid duplicating anything. I want this blog to stand on its own two feet as something completely separate from my YouTube videos or podcasting. I actually don't have a clue right now what approach to take, so I thought I'd just share my internal dialogue with you for a while and see what comes of it. So, I suppose this is an opportunity to get some thoughts out about the hobby of solo gaming with D&D or other TTRPGs. Consider it an outlet for the stuff that doesn't really make it into the Tales of Mystara podcast or the Solo Dungeon Crawler YT channel.

As I type this article I'm currently waiting for my latest YT video to export. I haven't made a video or podcast since the end of November 2023. That's because I broke my leg whilst hiking in the fells and had to undergo surgery and then lay up for the last 7 or 8 weeks. During that time I wasn't able to do any gaming. However, having that time away for my mind and body to slow down and focus on the very basics was (I think) pretty therapeutic for me. If anything it brought me closer to that childlike state that we try so hard to achieve as adults whereby the simple joy of reading a good fantasy novel or watching a good film is so rewarding. As an adult I think we often feel like we need to add to the experience to give it some sort of definitive meaning, but scrapping that and just doing things because we enjoy them is so much better.

I think having this little self reflection will help me come into 2024 with a little more childlike curiosity that I think is so important to the hobby of being a TTRPG gamer. For that reason I think my main focus for this year is to make everything I do in regards to creating content for the community of this hobby focused on sharing what is valuable in an effort to contribute solely for the purpose of letting people know just how fun playing a TTRPG solo can be.

To really capture the essence of that childlike curiosity and joy, I think reviving this blog with the sole purpose of sharing my thoughts unapologetically is a great step towards my goal.

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