What will you learn in 2023? That wasn’t a question that I expected to ask but found myself pondering after a friend stated she had enrolled in Japanese classes. She’s not planning on traveling to Japan or any area with Japanese as a primary language, but stated it was something that she always wanted to learn. A few years ago, she became an empty nester and found herself with mounds of free time. She also discovered that she had “lost” herself. Like so many mothers (and fathers), she had set aside many of her hobbies and interest to raise her children. Basically, she had gone to her nine-to-five and returned home in the afternoon to be wife and mother. Her days, nights, weekends, and holidays had been centered around her family and family duties. Then one day, proof, it was drastically changed. No longer did she need to transport little ones to sports practices and recitals. She didn’t have PTA meetings or costumes to sew. In the afternoons, when she returned, she had no need to prepare large meals or have piles of laundry waiting for her. Her house no longer was in disarray from discarded sweaters, toys, and game controllers strewn across furniture and floors. All was calm and quiet.
She didn’t complain that her life had changed and slowed. In fact, she welcomed it. She had looked forward to it for many years. But when it finally happened, it stunned her. Her once full life now had voids. She had nothing to do, nothing to occupy her time. It wasn’t until then that she realized how much of herself she had relinquished. For a long time, she had to reflect on her past to try to remember how she filled her days. She commented, “I don’t remember what I did or how I filled my days before I had children.”
When she attempted to revisit past joys and hobbies such as painting, sketching, and collecting, she found that she didn’t enjoy it as much anymore. Other pasts interests had evolved or disappeared, such as internet comic chatrooms and writing to pen pals. She had moved away and lost contact with many of her friends. Places she used to visit to spend time had long ago shut their doors. She found herself with nothing to do, and no one to do anything with.
“The crazy thing is,” she admitted, “I had been preparing myself for the day my children left. I used to tell them all the time that once they were grown that I would do all the wonderful things that I wanted to do. I intended to do them, too, only I didn’t know what those things were. I went from having dozens of texts and my phone continuously blowing up to days without a single message. And all of this was compounded by the shutdown. It was tough and depressing. Then I thought, I’m not dead. There must be something that I could do, that I wanted to do, that I would enjoy. That’s when I decided to learn Japanese. It had always been a language that fascinated me. I thought, ‘Why not? I have time. My brain still works.’”
This conversation prompted me to ask other people if they were learning any new hobbies in 2023, and I was surprised to learn just how many of them were. Most pointed to the pandemic as the motivation. “I never want to be confined like that again,” one friend admitted. “It seemed once I couldn’t go anywhere that I wanted to go everywhere. I’d watch social media, and there was so much that looked interesting. The problem was that I didn’t know how to do any of it, and I didn’t have the materials needed to try to learn. I vowed that once the world returned to normal, I would join in it—not as a bystander but as an active participant. YOLO.”
In total, over the span of two months, I asked sixty-one people what they were learning new in 2023. My closest compadres heard me ask so much that they began asking people and sending me emails and texts of the answers. It was insane how one question grew. However, once I had the answers, I didn’t quite know what to do with them…that is until today when I sat down to write. So, here I am sharing and hoping others find this useful and/or interesting. Here is a list of the top answers.
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Cloud computing
- Foreign language
- Content creating
- Genealogy
- Skincare
- Martial Arts
- Landscaping/Gardening
- Car restoration
- Video editing
- Digital marketing
- Geography
- Piano/Musical
- Singing
- Sky diving/Parachuting
- Yoga
- Home brewing
- Pottery
- Meditation
- Cooking/Baking
- Magic
- Rock climbing
- Scuba diving
- Sailing
- Wine
One final note, on March 31, Out of the Penalty Box, the first book in my Locker Room Love steamy sports romance series will be available for free download for a limited time only. To get the link and be reminded when it is available for download, sign up for my newsletter which will contain all of the information.
And that’s all that I have. Now, it’s your turn to sound tell me you think? Are you learning anything new in 2023? If so, what is it and what has inspired you to do so? Have you had feelings like any of the people described in this post? Let’s talk about it in the comments below.
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Get ready. It’s time to hit the ice again. Future Goals has arrived and is available for download.
When a college hockey player needs the help of an attractive older attorney, he gets more than he bargained for when trying to sort out the troubles in his career. Falling in love was never part of either man’s plan, especially as Corrigan’s and Sacha’s lives should never have collided. Now they’re left questioning if they’re standing in the way of the other’s future goals, or if there’s room for redirection.
Order your copy at:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3RjPYb9
Other booksellers: https://bit.ly/3CI8d5W
Missed the first four books in my hockey romance series? No frets.
Out of the Penalty Box (book #1), where it is one minute in the box or a lifetime out, is available at https://amzn.to/2Bhnngw. It also can be ordered on iTunes, Nook, or Kobo. For more links on where to purchase or to read the blurb, please visit https://bit.ly/2i9SqpH.
Defending the Net (book #2) can be ordered at https://amzn.to/2N7fj8q or www.books2read.com/defending. Crossing the line could cost the game.
Ice Gladiators (book #3) is the third book in my Locker Room Love series. When the gloves come off, the games begin. Available at https://amzn.to/2TGFsyD or www.books2read.com/icegladiators.
Penalty Kill (book #4) retakes the ice. Get a copy at https://amzn.to/3ex0N9p or https://amzn.to/3ex0N9p and let the pucker begin.
For more of my stories, shenanigans, giveaways, and more, check out my blog, Creole Bayou, www.genevivechambleeconnect.wordpress.com. New posts are made on Wednesdays, and everything is raw and unscathed. Climb on in a pirogue and join me on the bayou.
If you have any questions or suggestions about this post or any others, feel free to comment below or tweet me at @dolynesaidso. You also can follow me on Instagram at genevivechambleeauthor or for search me on Goodreads or Amazon Authors or BookBub or TikTok.
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Until next time, happy reading and much romance. Laissez le bon temps rouler.
Author Bio
Genevive Chamblee resides in the bayou country where sweet tea and SEC football reign supreme. She is known for being witty (or so she thinks), getting lost anywhere beyond her front yard (the back is pushing it as she’s very geographically challenged), falling in love with shelter animals (and she adopts them), asking off-the-beaten-path questions that makes one go “hmm”, and preparing home-cooked Creole meals that are as spicy as her writing. Genevive specializes in spinning steamy, romantic tales with humorous flair, diverse characters, and quirky views of love and human behavior. She also is not afraid to delve into darker romances as well.
