Another year down. It's easy to feel like it's been mostly stagnant - and socially it has - but it feels like I've rolled with my momentum very well to set up a successful 2026 (getting laid off next month during the restructure could change my tone on that though lol). A quick brainspill:

* Moved inside the ATL Perimeter

* Learned my way around the hot spots and neighborhoods (and how to get around without a car; God bless MARTA.)

* Continued improving my endurance, as Ehlers Danlos is more than happy to continue setting me back.

* Deepened my professional connections & relationships.

* Close friend as new roommate

* Re-connected with my estranged brother for the first time in 9.5 years.

* Meaningful trips/detours to Vermont, Massachusetts, Colorado, Chicago

* Made great memories at festivals

* Got back into movies as a hobby

I hope I can continue this. The pending AI bubble burst is making the future scary, but I'm well propositioned to keep my head up.

I've set some bold goals for 2026. Boldest will be trying to go three months minimum without drinking. I'm not drinking hard, but the reliance on 2-3 beers in the evening is having its effects on my energy & personal time. Living next to some quality beer halls and breweries isn't helping my taste for alcohol - mostly ciders & stouts, I left behind harder stuff after my college years.

I want to go to Canada and make a road trip. I want to go to the Northern Midwest to see Minneapolis & Milwaukee. I want to continue to see a world I previously thought impossible when I was growing up barely above the poverty line in the Carolina countryside.

I want to gain momentum with all of my hobbies and social life. Moving to a place where none of my previous friends/family reside put me back socially. I *know* what to do, I just have to get past the executive dysfunction keeping me from executing.

Barring critical health failure or being laid off, 2026 should be my year to become who I really want to be, and to escape who I currently am - a late-20s late bloomer whose life has been defined by work & health issues since high school.