“Even the good plans of wise wizards like Gandalf and of good friends like Elrond go astray sometimes when you are off on dangerous adventures over the Edge of the Wild, and Gandalf was a wise enough wizard to know it.”
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| The Edge of the Wild by Alan Lee |
I was thinking about writing something along the lines of an annual hobby review as is so popular around this time of year, but actually, there's not a huge amount to review; approximately zero games of ME:SBG played, a grand total of 69 models painted across a few game systems and an overall backlog reduction of 24 models (less than half what I'd hoped for). Sure there are some nice models in there that I'm really proud of (such as my Minas Morgul Battle Company completed as part of the Community Challenge last spring), but in general the real world just got real.
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| The Minas Morgul Battle Company (one of the few completed projects of 2022) |
Juggling a full time job and a young family ended up occupying most of my time and energy over the past year. This was maybe especially true for the last 14 months or so; a new baby boy and a few difficult medical diagnoses for my older girl involving multiple hospital visits and stays, coupled with the usual stresses of work and running a household have often left me too drained of energy (both mentally and physically) to consider lifting a paint brush or writing something for this blog. Therefore, progress has been slow on my numerous army projects; Razgush's Orcs are still missing Razgush and any beastly allies, the Knights of Gondor are still mostly horseless, the blog has had some difficult pauses with no updates etc etc. As my opening quote says, the good plans have gone astray.
And yet, despite all these hurdles throughout the year my involvement with ME:SBG has really helped me to cope with the challenges faced by providing an excellent distraction from the general stresses and giving me a chance to relax. I start into this hobby to help me during a battle with depression back in my early 20s. Back then it was just painting a handful of historical models, almost as way to practice some form of mindfulness, focusing my attention on painting 1 model meant I wasn't focusing on everything else occupying my head. I still believe that finding some time to sit down and paint is a great way to relax and unwind, even if finding that time is increasingly difficult.
Yet, this hobby became so much more than just painting a few models when I found the wider hobby community. Now I have so many other tools and options to help put aside the stresses for a few minutes. Whether that is through listening to podcasts, watching YouTube videos or reading other blogs from the many excellent content creators out there, or interacting with fellow hobbyists on Facebook pages and private or group chats, they all help to keep the motivation going. Of all the various wargaming communities I've had interaction with over the years, I genuinely believe that the international ME:SBG one is the greatest of them all, and for that, thank you everyone.
It's as Galadriel so accurately said,
"Hope remains while the Company is true."
As a dad of several young children, I can say that trying to balance the work-family-hobby life is really hard. Don't give up, mate - it's a long race, with your investment in family being the biggest part of it all.
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