My Year in 2025

So, how has 2025 as a whole been?

My Year in... Blogging 

This year has seen me return to regular blogging, which is a good thing. This is the 120th post on the blog for the year, so that's a success. This year also saw me completely miss the 20th anniversary of this blog, which is... weird.

The Imaginarium remains on indefinite hiatus. I have more to say on the topic of gaming more generally.

All in all, I'm happy with that. In 2026 I would like to just see more of the same. Though there is a part of me that is considering a refresh of the blog - the current theme has been in place for a very long time, so maybe it's time for a change?

My Year in... Work

This has been a banner year in many ways, though somewhat frustrating in parts. It has also been a really hard year in many ways. So, successful, but I'm also very glad for the rest!

My Year in... Health

Nothing to report here - it's basically been fine.

My weight continues to be an issue, and one that really needs to be addressed. That said, I said exactly that last year and ended up getting nowhere...

My Year in... Gaming

It's funny how something can be such a huge part of your life for so long, and then it just stops, and then... it turns out you just don't miss it that much. I haven't done any gaming this year, I haven't been planning any campaigns, or writing anything, I haven't purchased any (physical) products or backed any Kickstarters. (I have purchased a small number of classic PDFs, but that barely counts - I'm completing a couple of 'sets'.)

I have no plans for any of this to change in 2026. Indeed, it is very likely that this segment won't even appear in the wrap-up for next year.

My Year in... Band

Band continues to be something of a disappointment. It just about does what I wanted it to do, but it's not particularly fulfilling. I may need to think on this some more - the current arrangements are unlikely to hold.

(On the other hand, the very last practice of the year was really good, so maybe there is some hope? If we can pick up in 2026 where we left off this year, I think I'd actually be happy with that.)

My Year in... Resolutions

As always, the wrap-up of annual goals, and setting of goals for next year, are handled in another post. The headline is that this year has been mostly positive.

My Year in... Travel

This year had two meaningful trips: to France for a week in the Summer, and to London for a couple of days with work. These were enjoyable enough, and in particular it was good to see the Sun in Summer! That said, I'd hope that next year sees a bit more travel to various places.

Also, there is now A Plan, but that's one for the future...

My Year in... the Church

This has been a tricky year. A few months ago I made to mistake of being persuaded to take over as convenor of one of the committees, which started well and then became hugely stressful. I'm now rather concerned for the future.

I also allowed myself to be drawn into a "Growing Young" initiative within the church, which I remain convinced is both the right thing and indeed absolutely essential for the church going forward... I just don't want to be the person doing it. But we'll see what happens with all of this in 2026.

You'll note, however, that the topic of this subsection has changed from "My Year in... Faith". And there's a reason for that - the last several months have very much been about attending church and being involved in the church, and I've been feeling something of a falling away in terms of faith. I have some thoughts on that for 2026, but I'd very much like to switch the title back for next year.

My Year in... Money

Another odd one. On the one hand, this is robustly healthy, and is all generally good. On the other hand, I now find myself obsessing over a spreadsheet that basically doesn't change day to day, which is odd. That's a good thing insofar as it's better than reverting to just ignoring it, but on the other hand it doesn't actually achieve anything.

My Year in... Love

I said last year that one of the good things was that Surprise! and Funsize had adopted a more settled sleep routine, which meant I was a bit better rested. Please excuse me while I go have a darkly cynical chuckle to myself.

My Year... Overall

This has been a really good year - even the negatives have generally been about things feeling flat, rather than anything truly bad. If 2026 is as good as this year has been, it looks to be really good indeed.

As always, this will be my final post of the year. I hope 2025 has been good for you, and I hope that the start of 2026 finds you happy and well, and looking forward to even better times ahead!