Grief and Growth

It’s so hard to realize that this year is almost gone. And more than that, this decade of my life is almost gone – I turn 30 in a few weeks. In a lot of ways, it feels like we’ve been paused since March 2020. Like the past year and a half shouldn’t even count; like we should get a “do-over.” But that’s not true. We’ve had to keep surviving, living, growing, changing even with all of the stress and uncertainty of the pandemic. Maybe even BECAUSE of that stress and uncertainty. I think there are plenty of people out there who experienced forced introspection in 2020 when they might not have done that work otherwise.

When I look back at the past year, I see so many changes. At first, I tried to talk about all of them in one post, but it very quickly got excessive. They’ll each get their own post. I make no promises about when those posts will happen. They’re all changes that are poignant – that I consider pivot points in my life. Today’s post, the first post of 2021 after almost a year of not writing, is for SunCat. It’s half reflection, half eulogy.

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The Finances of Pet Ownership

Having pets is an important quality of life factor for me, and even though my pets aren’t the best financial decision, they are 100% an awesome life decision. They contribute to my mental health. StarDog forces me to get outside and stay active. SunCat makes an excellent neck warmer at night when I keep my heat low. StarCat is a constant source of amusement because he always looks shocked. They are wonderful.

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Side Hustling FTW.

One of my goals that I’m talking about in this blog is Financial Independence. This one means a lot to me. When I graduated college, I spent money a little too freely. I needed a new wardrobe for my new life as a professional, I needed new furniture, I needed fun things and dinners out and travel. I needed to adopt not one, but TWO new animals (for a total of 3). And now, three years later, I’m stepping back and asking myself how I can be more strategic about getting to my financial goals because I’ve taken the time to figure out exactly what those goals are.

 

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