Bear with me, as this address will be littered with overused English pedantries. You have been warned.
The best laid plans go to waste. It’s a pretty common saying denoting that even the most entrenched plans are subject to change given mitigating circumstances. I’m sure everyone is more than familiar with the feeling and have had plans shuffled due to new situations arising. I know I have. It should be expected, and by now I know whenever I lay my yearly goals out, they’re seen as a Best Case Scenario rather than easily accessible. There’s always one thing that changes the plan.
In the year 2021, it was many things that changed the plan. My creative plan for the year capsized pretty early on. The list of projects I wanted to work on dwindled until the entire list was shelved until further notice. And even as I continue this write-up, notice has not been lifted.
Life gets in the way. That’s another pretty common expression for writers and creative types who just want 10 minutes to make some sort of progress in their newest creations. No matter how big or small the creative slice is, there’s always going to be other pieces of the pie that make you put a hold on any progress.
Then there’s my personal favorite: Shit happens. What wastes those well laid plans? What causes life to suddenly and without warning HAPPEN? Shit. And that is a perfectly ambiguous yet succinct way to describe what derailed any hope I had of any creative momentum this year.
Due to a clerical error at my wife’s job, she discovered in March that she would not be getting paid during the summer like she expected. It’s weird, as she signed up for the option with the school admininstrator to defer some of her paychecks to the summer months, and yet she learned that she wasn’t elected for that option. It meant we were going to go 3 months on half our expected income. So I dropped my pen, put on my big boy pants, and knuckled the hell up.
I got a second job to supplement her end of the necessary income. I worked at Chipotle for a week (hated it), Chick-Fil-A for a month (awful), and finally Wawa for the next 2 and a half (surprisingly did not hate it), all on top of my normal logistical and chefly duties at the hospital. Many days I’d work 14 to 16 hours and due to the staggering of days off, I’d often find many weeks I’d work one job or another (or both) 7 days a week. It was a test physically and mentally, and moreover, it didn’t leave much more than a moment to work on any writing. So I turned off the creative faucet and just put the work in to support my family.
I was able to drop the second job once school started up again, and Jessica started drawing a paycheck again. But I was very slow to pick up any creative venture. For the first time, I wondered if I still had it. I still do. Hell, I wonder if I ever had it to begin with.
So faced with this hiatus that’s lasted nearly half the year, and with little to nothing to show for my creative efforts this year, I made the decision to just cap 2021 now and refocus for 2022. That’s right, for the purposes of my creative sanity, 2022 begins now! I want to get a head start, and I don’t want to wait until the end of the year.
2022 is going to be The Year. I’m manifesting it now. This will be the year when plans will not go to waste, where life will stay out of the way, and the only shit that’s happening is shit getting done!
2021 Accomplishments:
Accomplishments were few and far between, but I did manage to produce two music projects:
Finished this vaguely prog-metal version of the “Lavos Suite” from Chrono Trigger. Even used my miniscule film editing knowledge to stitch together a montage vid. Musically and on film, I’m super proud of this. Check it out, even if you’ve never played!
Daft Punk officially retired, and I slapped together an homage to their legacy by performing the first song that really laid its hooks into me. It’s a rock rendition of “Da Funk”.
2022 Goals:
Website — This is a website. It’s called A Story About Waffles. It’ll have interesting stuff on it soon.
Mt. Kilimanjaro — I said last year that my goal musically to compose my two most ambitious pieces, thusly named my Everest and Kilimanjaro. I’m not much of a mountain climber, but I did make enough headway this year to reach the summit of my 2nd most ambitious undertaking. Let’s get climbing.
Project Red Wing Ten — I was recently selected to help compose the music to an upcoming video game due out on Playstation 5 sometime in late 2022/early 2023. Much of this project will remain secret due to the sensitive nature of the project (and a signed non-disclosure agreement), but the moment I’m allowed to reveal it, I’ll point it out with vigor and gusto!
Starting Over — In the writing department, I’m starting out from scratch, which means molding a bunch of ideas until one lump of clay looks sexier than the others. After some interpersonal think tanking with a bottle of vodka, I have five projects on the chess board. I think I’ll work a murder-mystery novelette first, then follow it up by trying my hand at mid-grade fantasy. Let’s see if I still have the mojo.
Happy New Year*, and may the Force be with you!
Robert J. Relyea
Author, Musician, Creator
Email: rrelyea947@gmail.com
Twitter: @robertjrelyea
Instagram: @rob.relyea.writer.chef
TikTok: @rjr.waffleton.esquire
Facebook: lol nope
A Story About Waffles 