Mark’s Newsletter: January 2026
Happy January!
It’s a new year full of new goals and (possibly) new failures. I got mine out of the way early; journaling daily is not for me.
Every month, I’ve been trying to challenge myself to do something new, I like to call these “Side Quests!”
My January Side Quest was to journal daily for thirty days. I was able to do six. The month isn’t over yet, but there is no way in hell I’m going to get thirty posts done now.
Did I find journaling helpful at all? Yes, it was incredibly helpful. Full disclosure, I’ve been feeling incredibly depressed and anxious lately. It’s gotten to the point I had to talk to my doctor about it. I’m not thinking about hurting myself, so it’s not a MAJOR concern, but I don’t want to get to that point, so I am getting help. I say this, because journaling has been helpful when it comes to the anxiety. I found that writing about my fear and the things that make me anxious forces me to look at them from a different perspective. It’s like writing down a dream or nightmare, you begin to see how silly some of there triggers really are. The anxiety is still there, but sometimes it’s not as intense if I can remember how it sounded when I read it.
From that point of view, it wasn’t a complete failure, but I’m not going to write a daily journal.
My February Side Quest is to livestream as much as I can in February. I want to get outside my comfort zone and learn to relax when talking in front of viewers. Which will be easy, because I don’t really have any yet. If you want to watch, you can do so by following me on Twitch at https://twitch.tv/MarkIsLivestreaming.
In Other News:
The weather this month has been absolutely insane! It has fluctuated between 4°C to -46°.
I have done absolutely no art recently. Not for lack of ideas, but because I had the bright idea of putting my workspace in an uninsulated basement in the middle of winter. So, I’ve pivoted to writing and videos until the weather improves instead of shivering at the drawing table.
I was social once this month. This is a huge step for me, because I have become incredibly misanthropic, and gleefully so. Still, it was nice to see some of our friends again. I’m going to try to me more sociable this year.
I retired my MacBook Air and replaced it with a MacMini. When I realized I was using my super portable laptop exclusively as a desktop device, I felt it was time for a change. Plus, I was able to justify it as a “family computer” to I can keep an eye on what my kids are doing with those 27” monitors.
I deactivated all my Meta accounts. Facebook, Instagram, Meta and Messenger (I still refuse to use WhatsApp). I would have deleted the accounts completely, but there is a small chance I may get another marketing job that requires I have access to these accounts. Like a lot of you, I have found they did nothing for me. They haven’t since the stopped allowing Canadians to post, share or view anything related to actual news.
I have accepted my age and started watching This Old House on YouTube. Almost daily. When I was younger, I couldn’t stand this show, mostly because I didn’t own a house. Now that I own a 73 year old house, I see the value in what they offer. I also find myself wandering Home Depot muttering to myself “Oh, yeah, I could use one a these!” I now have tools I’ll never use and more tape measures than I’ll ever need, but I still can’t find one when I need one.
The job search is dismal right now. I feel that is a huge factor behind my feelings of anxiety and depression. Still, like the meme says, “the horrors persist but so do I!”
Elsewhere:
That’s all for this month! Stay tuned for the February update! I’ll be posting/sharing the livestreams on my YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/@markldotca.