New Year, Old Me. Maybe?

So obviously it's a new year. 2024. It's weird to think about how much has changed since last year, and at the same time, how little has changed. As a person. As a country. As a species, a planet, an existence.

I can only speak for myself of course. Not much for the rest of it all.

One year ago today, I was still working at the Island Resort and Casino. I think I was in Surveillance at the time. Shortly after, I would be in Food and Beverage yet again. There were obvious ups and downs to both positions.

I was living in a mobile home a mile from my work. My mom had just moved out, and my cousin Kyle had just moved in. It was a major change, and it also had... its downs. It was mainly downs.

I made so many friends in my second trip through Food and Beverage. So many of the bar staff were so good to me. Some of my best friends were made in that time. And some of my best friends were lost in that time. Either by choice or by force. I had to cut some people out of my life.

And somebody was taken out of mine.

Shortly after I moved down to Green Bay, one of the bar staff I worked with for months, and hung out with outside of work for months, passed in a car accident. That was hard for everybody. It still is. It will continue to be, whether we have regrets or not.

Another one of the bar staff that I worked with, ended up moving to Green Bay with me. Judy has been, and is, the best roommate. 'Nuff said. And Evelyn is the best roommate-in-law. That's the title I'm going with.

I started working at a Subway in August. It's customer service, so that sucks. But the people that I work with are cool. I've grown really close to one or two, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. You know who you are.

I never like the end of the year, primarily because I'm mostly incapable of realizing change in hindsight. I tend to be an optimist for the future, and a pessimist for the past. Usually on New Years Eve, I sit there and look at the past year and am wayyyyyy too hard on myself. I sit there and think about how I'm still not exactly raking in the big bucks. Or about how I've been single for 23 years and running (subject to change)((pretty sure)). Or about any countless number of things.

I don't usually do New Year's resolutions, cause I usually pick one that's pretty unrealistic, and then I get discouraged by my inability to deliver on said resolution.

I have one this year that's a little less concrete. I'm just going to be less hard on myself. Try not to overthink everything. Say no to things when I don't want to do them, and say yes when I do. Shoot my shot without the usual fears. Commit. Allow myself to make dumb mistakes, cause that's what most of life is. Let people in a little more on whats going on in my private life instead of throwing up walls. Show people the appreciation that they deserve. Allow myself to be hard on people when its deserved, instead of bottling it all up inside and waiting for it to burst in an explosion of emotion.

That pretty much conveys everything that I wanted to. I know that it was kinda chunk between posts again. It's kinda been the growing norm over here. I hope you all have a super 2024 tho, and thank you for being here with me for the start of it, and to whom it applies, thank you for being here for the five(?) years that I've been doing this. You're the best.

And to the person that I hope is reading this:

Know that you're the best. I'm so glad you've become a part of my life, and I'm so excited to find out what the future holds, individually, and maybe even together ;) You can find out so much more about me exploring here. Who I was, who I am, and who I aim to become.

-Dominic Romeo

19:02 PM CST

01/01/2024