So, this was 2022, right? Whoo…
I am not tempting fate in saying that 2023 will be my year, or anyone’s year. Like a great many others have said on social media, we’re all going to tip toe in quietly.
Work Reflections
Other than one large wrinkle work wise with having to take a break in order to take care of my grandmother right before she was placed in long term care for dementia, work wise things have been okay.
More experience has been gained, and some skills I never thought I’d have to learn because when I started (not to make myself sound old) coding wasn’t as prevalent as it is now. Technology is now a pervasive and ever present reality and I had to learn and get a deeper understanding of this or not continue in anything.
For next year, I’d like to take it to the next level by perhaps making a side move into something far more analytical rather than customer service and take my business up a notch by being closer to full time with my writing. I like people but eight hours a day of it is exhausting when I’m far more introverted… and autistic, as we’ve recently discovered. The constant masking is exhausting and I find I can’t do it anymore as my primary income.
To explain, outside of my freelancing and writing, I work in a very customer service related field in technical support for a global fintech where my day is spent answering a whole lot of phone calls and even chats to resolve problems (the part of the job I do like) but I also have to be very sociable. The mask I wear every day for that has burned me completely out.
However, my ability to resolve an issue, research almost anything and create plans of action, build websites and content, and consult on how for social & content marketing as well as be creative is all still there and, that being said (written?), that’s where I’d like to move into full time.
This does mean I have some new availability leading into the new year.
Continuing Education
After waiting for the “right time” to go back to university, I have decided I will be heading back to full time university in the fall of 2023 to complete my Bachelor of Commerce. I haven’t yet picked a specific major but I’m leaning to either e-commerce or marketing. They both seem fitting.
Because of how much data analytics and similar are moving into every day business, I am also working on some coursework on learning how to not only work in data analytics but be able to use it in my own day to day business for both me and my clients.
Writing & Art
Work continues on getting my first book series back onto shelves, and I’m aiming on having all five books that were previously published as K.M. Cannon out before the end of 2023. Do I think I’ll do that? Probably not, as I still have another three books to finish first not to mention the NaNoWriMo 2022 project I managed to finish. I am also finishing my first mystery book as Eve Morrison that I would like to have out in 2023.
For freelancing, I am aiming on never missing a single blog post, so a post per week on this blog and at least once a month for the other blogs I run. I also want to start to finally contribute to other blogs again.
My paintings will also be on their own website shared with my father under a rebranded studio site that features our artwork and the bookstore, just to simplify our lives a bit.
Health
This greatly depends on how things go with the numerous tests I have had to take. As I couldn’t really concentrate on my own health or life while caring for my grandmother, I have been woefully behind on that and things have slid a bit.
Okay, it seems like the minute I had a second to sit and breathe everything fell apart on me and I spend more time sick than I care to admit.
This winter has been the most brutal on my health than I’ve had in recent years. It seems like I get over one bug to catch another, and each time it’s progressively worse to the point where I’m writing this while suffering from pneumonia and burnout from being a caregiver.
I’m planning on taking a few weeks of actual vacation in the new year, winter or no, and resting while taking stock of while preparing for the next steps in my career to go back to work refreshed and with a mind that isn’t fighting against an exhaustion so profound that basic daily tasks are a challenge.
This is why I have always told people that the first person to take care of is yourself because if you end up on the floor (metaphorically or literally), then you obviously can’t take care of anyone else.
Overall
Once I have a chance to sort out what’s happening with my health, and recover from the burnout, I’ll cross that bridge. However, at this point I think I’m definitely set on moving to a different aspect of my career that is less customer service related and more in the back office… Even if that means heading back to school full time instead of working full time.
See everyone in the new year.
K.M. Cannon 
Leave a Reply