If I don’t write a blog in January, I’ll feel like I’m catching up all year. Consider this post my return to center. Bloggers gotta blog or are you even a blogger?

I took a bit of a sabbatical. The internet has been boring me and I’ve stayed off it mostly. Got my step count up though. Feels really good. Before I started moving again, I was turning into the shape of the chair.

And oh! The stress on my poor elbows.

**falls shamelessly to the floor**

Oh, I have. a little hack for elbow pain. The type you get from typing too much. Let’s call it return to center elbow version. That sounds fun and will help my SEO. After all, we are blogging. Shoot, while looking for photos for this blog, TIL that it’s actually kettle BELL. Fascinating.

Return to Center (Elbow Version)

You’ll need a lightweight kettlebell. Two. Mine are 8 pounds each.

Holding (2) 8lb Kettle balls, one in each hand, set your shoulders back before you begin.

Twist your wrists in and out.

When I do it, I hear some satisfying Krepitis or pops, and the weight of the kettle balls does some traction on my elbows. I can feel the synovial fluid make its way into the joints of my elbow.

After the twists, pause, holding the kettle balls.

It’s subtle but substantial, and it feels so damn good.

Am I allowed to swear on here?

Okay, so that was just a little ditty from my massage therapy school days. One path I took that I turned around on, with lots of useful information along the way.

What’s a path you took once but went back on?

Return to Center in January

January 2024 feels like a Return to Center for me. Return to writing and blogging and speaking my mind.

This is my first year with a real side hustle. A real job and a real off-work path to take.

My theme for 2024 is “More DIY”.

Currently, my interest is piqued by DIY cosmetic care, which is weird. I’m not really into that stuff, historically, but here I am.

I’m approaching 40, the last home stretch, and I guess that’s what I’m into now. Contemplating buying drums full of goat poop.

Did you KNOW that Argan Oil is harvested after goats that climb trees eat it and poop it out? Something about the enzymes in their bellies helps break down the hard outer shell. Inside each shell are little oil-rich kernels.

The stuff of legends.

So yeah, DIY. With the help of goats.

Return to Center is a term we say in downhill skateboarding, describing the tendency of the right choice in bushings to return to a stable, central position after compression.

It’s how we can fly down mountain roads riding gravity like a horse but of course.

It’s likely a car thing, too. Cars also have bushings, but it’s not as much fun as downhill skateboarding, promise.

Return to Center is a mantra of mine for the season. More DIY is my New Year’s resolution. And because of my paid program, I’m also likely to Try Something New Every Month.

What are you up to this year?

What is your Yearly Theme going to be?

Let me know by emailing daisy@dobedo.io and I’ll be your little cheerleader for a smidge.

When I need a new reset in my life, I tend to go back to the yearly theme that worked best for me when I was feeling stagnant: try something new every month.