One of my big goals for 2022 was to invest more time and effort into creative outlets. My writing habit really suffered because of the pandemic, and I wanted to be purposeful about tapping into that side of myself again. Now that the year is coming to a close, it’s time to look back and see how I did.

To start, I challenged myself to publish a blog post at least once every month, which I was able to do. Most of my articles centered on technology. I wrote a series about indie apps that I’ve been enjoying, a couple of posts about the color options on Apple’s devices, and entries about a few other tech-related things happening in my life, like buying a new Mac. Tech’s been front-of-mind in my free time this year, and it’s been fun to express that here on the blog.

Aside from blogging, I’ve also been putting out a lot of podcast episodes with my friends Sigmund. Each week on Magic Rays of Light, we discuss everything happening in the world of Apple TV. I never saw myself becoming a regular podcaster, but I feel like I’ve gotten more comfortable in front of the mic this year. It’s been a lot of fun, and I’m proud of what we’re making.

On the work side of things, a good amount of my creative energy has gone into building and continually working on the church’s new website, which launched early this year. I didn’t realize what an undertaking that would be, but it’s paid off significantly in my day-to-day work of keeping things updated and looking nice. I feel like I’ve gotten into a solid groove of staying on top of what’s happening and keeping church members informed, which also requires me to generate a ton of promotional materials.

We started a church newsletter a couple of months ago, and that’s been a fun challenge to put together. It’s powered by the same tool that I used to build the website, so everything’s nice and cohesive. Coming up with the system to make it all work was a refreshing creative exercise, as is actually creating the newsletter each week.

I’ve also been blessed with the opportunity to preach several times this year, including for the first time on a Sunday morning at my church. Sermon-writing is a whole process unto itself, and it works a totally different part of my brain than any of my other work. I’m always so grateful to get to do so.

So that’s been my creative output this year: blogging about tech, podcasting about Apple TV, building the church website, publishing the newsletter, and writing sermons. At any given moment, I’ve felt like I could be doing more, but looking back, it’s been quite a lot. I’d say I accomplished my goal of exercising my creativity this year, especially when it comes to my personal writing.

Another goal I had for 2022 was putting less pressure on myself. That might seem counterproductive to upping my creative output, but I actually found that the two went hand-in-hand. By setting my goal pretty low at one blog post per month, I gave myself space to build the practice back up without getting stressed out. Instead of a chore, it was something fun and enjoyable, as it should be.

Getting back into writing has been one of the highlights of my year. To everyone who read, shared, or responded to something I wrote, thank you so much. You were a part of me reconnecting with this thing I love, and that means the world to me.

Looking ahead to next year, I hope to keep up my writing habit and publish at least as often as I did this year, if not more. I’d like to keep writing about technology, because that’s what I’m passionate about. But I think I’d also like to write about other topics that interest me. I’m not sure exactly what that looks like yet, but I plan to explore it more in the coming year. And I’m sure I’ll continue my creative efforts through podcasting and work as well.

Who knows what the new year may bring? I’m sure it’ll have its creative challenges, and I look forward to facing them head-on. 2022 has been a productive year of flexing my creative muscles and building some good writing habits. Here’s to more of that in 2023.