Hello, darlings. I started the year off pretty on-track but got a bit knocked off-course when I received an email from Wix, my former web host, alerting me of a massive price increase (after an already-nauseating price increase the year prior, as well) that would strike on my next payment, which happened to be just a bit later that month. As a result, I had to make the move to a new host much quicker, and in that window of time, I learned WordPress and PHP and rebuilt my websites entirely. I’m still in the process of optimizing them and perfecting the little details, and I also have plans to move this year from Etsy to these websites (though WooCommerce has also been a headache), but since they are stable enough to work for now, I’m going to play catch up this month on plans that got put on the backburner.

🖤 Dezy Delaceur (+0%): Technically, there has been no change to the to-do list I have put together to track the progress I share here, but it’s also worth mentioning that I completely rebuilt my website and got set up with a proper domain. On top of that, I’ve been working on plans to return (begrudgingly) to social media – mostly for advertisement purposes, as social media isn’t really all that social anymore. After looking over all the big-name platforms, I think I’m most excited to return to Tumblr, and I’ll likely be most practically active there in the near future. I should also mention that my planner pages, which are now technically under this umbrella, were previously part of The Witchy Housewife before I decided to consider it related to my Luxe Gothique designs. My planner project is now completely finished in terms of the designs themselves, which means my entire planner collection is now available for download on Gumroad. For my physical planners for purchase, I still have three more to organize, but I have a few other things to turn my attention to before I can get back to that.

💚 Dezydration (+4%): Two big things to note for Dezydration: I have purchased a domain and completely rebuilt my website for creative projects, and I have also completed the first rough outline for A Little Town Called Lorauvial. I am currently in the process of reviewing this outline and doing some conceptual revisions. Once I have solidified these ideas, I will begin fleshing out its page on the website. Additionally, this month, I am planning (fingers crossed) to finish up with the 2D model I’ve been working on for the YouTube channel. We’ll see how well that pans out, but if things go as planned, I could be working on and uploading the video ideas I’ve been saving up this year. We’ll see.

💜 The Witchy Housewife (+13%): As I mentioned, the largest portion of this percentage is actually my planner project, but I have, of course, been working on my book here and there. The website was my biggest concern recently, which has, as with all the others, been completely rebuilt. There is still a lot to do. Currently, I have a lot of placeholder images that need fleshing out (for all of the websites, actually, but mostly this one), and I’d like to do the artwork and photography for these things myself. I also suspect I’ll be going back to tweak things here and there throughout the coming month when I’m not working on my catch-up plans.

🔒 Secret Projects (+4%): Still a secret. 🤐💞

Every so often, I think about my life before the pandemic versus my life now, and in particular, I think about all of the totally coincidental changes (/s) that occurred in succession to screw over smaller freelancers, entrepreneurs, and content creators. The algorithms changed. The laws changed. The level of (publicly acknowledged) scrutiny over our bank accounts changed. And now we’ve got things like AI which, like most technology, has so much potential as an assistive tool (and, in fact, I find it very helpful for things like brainstorming sessions and placeholder content so long as it’s done with transparency) but is instead used to usher us toward our own destruction. We’re living in a dystopia and pretending we’re not because the price of acknowledgement is being honest about our own faults, vices, and negative contributions to society – but that’s a conversation for another time and one I’m still trying to find the right words for.

Anyway, returning to the update now, besides all the project-related things I’ve been doing, I’ve also done a bit better regarding things like socializing, leisure, and taking my life a bit more slowly. This year, my resolution was just to have a better year than last year, and I started that by using my own planner to keep myself on track. I’ve found that I did exactly what I set out to do in the beginning of this whole big planner project: I built a planner that is both beautiful and provides everything I need to keep all my chaotic thoughts organized. I cannot even begin to describe how much my own planner has helped me this year.

So, here’s a little overview of what I’ve been able to accomplish this year since working with my planner: I am currently regularly working on my classes for coding, Greek, and herbal medicine – and I have started on some review classes for traditional and digital art as well as for my spiritual practice. I have restarted my sourdough starter and made focaccia for the first time. I have become the Queen of Soups and Marinades. I put together an affordable red light therapy set-up above my desk to use while working on my little Sims 1 -> Sims 4 leisure project. I am on a regular near-daily schedule of calisthenics, belly dance, Pilates, and yoga (one of these a day, not all in one day; I’m not that insane). I have started plans on a Blueprint-inspired hormone-friendly (with the help of the 28 app) health regimen. And finally, I have also gotten back into my very long reading list.

Alas, I must be off now to organize my plans for the month ahead, respond to texts, and get to work on the update article for The Witchy Housewife. If all goes well, you’ll be hearing from me again very soon with the first of my Mythos Rewritten series. As always, we shall see. Lots of love and all that jazz.