Happy Holidays!
Holiday Cheer & News
First and foremost, happy holidays to you and your loved ones! We all made it through another year and I’m sure just like me, you have been working towards rebuilding since the pandemic. These last few years have not been easy for anyone. 2022 seemed like a year full of finding solid ground to move forward. I am wishing nothing but blessings to all of you.
Over the years, if you have followed Redstream Digital either on social media or here on the website, the trend has been that there is always a “newfound” path or motivation to keep pressing on. Then, it seems like I drop off the face of the Earth never to be heard from again until the holiday season. I get it, you all probably wonder what happens to me between these times.
Maybe it is time to come clean about a few things. Are you ready?
Leading up to the pandemic, I was working as a manager for an event technology company. Being a manager means less free time to do things I truly would like to be doing. Everyone has to make a living through, so it was a necessary sacrifice. While on furlough, I kept thinking that I would try to create content. However, Hawaii restrictions at one point made it impossible to do anything outside of your home. A lot of recreational areas closed and it prevented me from being able to go out somewhere. There was a time I thought I would just do product reviews or work with brands to promote them as a social media influencer. This truthfully burned me out just trying to do this. There are a lot of companies that want you to promote them for free in exchange for their products. Take it from someone with experience, it is not worth it unless you really like the product.
I worked a few different jobs while I was on furlough from my event technology job. I worked as a field case manager for a state-funded company. Then I briefly worked a retail job and transitioned to working for a cable company, which paid more. I felt like I sold my soul to work for them, so after a grueling 6 months, finally took on another job as an aircraft mechanic apprentice where I had the opportunity to build flight hours. When a series of uniquely unfortunate challenges arose, it became clear that I could not continue down the path I was on.
This past spring, I went back to work as a manager for the event technology company I had worked for before the pandemic. I found myself full circle in this weird cycle my life has taken on over the last 2 years. Since coming back to my old job, I have been promoted, so I’ve taken on more work. That in itself can be stressful, but again necessary to make a living here in Hawaii. Everything is so expensive here.
Why Does all of this matter?
With everything I have been through in the past two years, one thing has become very apparent. I am not getting any younger. The new white hairs are just showing me that time has not stopped. The world may have stopped for a while, but time did not.
I have said many times that I planned to change things around for Redstream and there were a few posts that were made, but not much happened after that. This time looks like any other time I have ever said this besides my opening up about a few things I experienced during Covid-19.
This year I am going to push myself harder to actually produce more content. Since I have not been working professionally with Redstream Digital in several years I will be taking another approach. Content on the internet has taken a whole other turn since I started the business in 2013 and so have my desires.
Another caveat to this is since I am in a position to just be creative, that is what I want to focus on. I got caught up in trying to make the business work that the creativity was not there. 2023 is the year that I do the simple thing and just start creating. I am not promising regular posts, but I am done “wishing” to create content while I watch others do what I am dreaming of. I spent time getting in my own way by not dedicating time and using work or other responsibilities as excuses. Sometimes it is legitimate, other times I could have made time for something I do truly love. This image of what I think is the perfect ideal situation to start making videos has been a huge setback. Right now, I do not have an actual studio space like I had back in 2020 since I moved to another house. I am going to make do with what I have and it will be enough.
An added bonus to all of this is my kids are both older and interested in creating videos. No matter whether it will be gaming videos or another genre, I plan for us to work together to produce some fun content. The point is not to make money, but to do something together and flex our creativity.
2023 is going to hit different. I am ready to actually start having some fun.