December 2019 – January 2020 Wrap-Up: Health, Wedding Plans, Business Changes
Monthly Wrap-Ups, That Luana Me, The Freelance Life · March 6, 2020, FridayWelcome to the wrap-up post for the month of December 2019 and January 2020.
And 2020 is here, at last. And I’m going to turn 35 this year. Wow.
So, below is a sum-up of the most recent news:
- I’ve been dealing with PTSD from dad’s sudden death in October. The core of the trauma is my failure to accept that I won’t have my dad at my wedding in September, walking me to the altar, sharing that joy with me. But I’m slowly accepting that — and with acceptation come less crises (screams, loud cries, depression). Spiritually, dad will be at my wedding and will walk me to the altar. I forgive you, daddy, for not being there. I forgive myself, too, for being fragile. I forgive us and it’s all good now. I’ll be okay.
- I saw a neurologist on Dec 20 and a psychiatrist on Dec 28 and January 21. They put me on pregabalin 75 mg (to combat micro-seizures and hyperpathia) and lorazepam 1 mg (for general anxiety). On January 21 I was put on paliperidone to fight psychoses. I feel better since.
- Among the things, now I work as a Content Marketer for SIA Enterprises. I work on a project by project basis because I can’t handle even part-time hours or time-tracking with my current health conditions. It’s good, though, because I’m making some business changes so, starting 2021, I can rely more on my own products than on client projects.
- I have Marketing books and SEO comics in the planning, as well as a continued SciFi projects as an artist with my friend Lia Dospetti. Things are good.
- I’m open for art commissions (see my DeviantART page for commission rates and formats). First come, first serve. 😉
So, all considered, things are looking up. 🙂 I hope 2020 started great for you, too!
Read on for the updates in detail.
Health
In addition to the news in the summary, I had a brain MRI this month that thankfully reported no significant issue (excepting some lymph nodes to check, but I already know some are swollen due to stress.)
My mental and neurological issues most probably originate from issues in the brain’s biochemistry.
Wedding Plans
We’ve seen a couple of houses and thinking about it. Meanwhile, we have a list of churches to go see and ask whether they have room for a wedding in September or October this year.
I already ordered my wedding dress, a comfy casual suit to wear at the restaurant instead of the wedding dress (so no sensory overload, yay!), a custom magnet to add to our car after the wedding ceremony and party and I’m designing the wedding invitation, which I’ll have both in Italian and English since I’m inviting some of my children from overseas, too (and I’ll send a card to the ones I already know won’t be able to come).
Projects
I’m working with my friend Lia as an artist for her fiction and her Patreon page, so that’s pretty much what I’m involved with at the moment. 🙂
Also, I’m thinking about resurrecting my blog in Italian. But thinking very very hard about it for personal reasons.
Finally, I started to brainstorm and outline a couple of Marketing books I want to write this year, to publish in 2021, if everything goes according to plans.
Reads
I finished only 1 book in December:
- Gratitudine by Oliver Sacks (Italian translation of “Gratitude”)
Because of the frequent crises and the stress from all the medical appointments, I haven’t been able to devote much time to reading that wasn’t prayer books.
However, I know I need to absolutely finish these three books by April:
- Influence: The Power of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
- The Fourth Age: Smart Robots, Conscious Computers, and the Future of Humanity by Byron Reese
- L’uomo che vide l’infinito by Robert Kanigel (Italian translation of “The Man Who Knew Infinity”)
Hopefully a few more of those I’m reading, especially marketing and copywriting books.
Freelance Work
I’ve been working with my new content marketing client, an old client in the SEO and Marketing industry, and I’m once again open for art commissions.
Actually, I hope to push the art commission business a little further this year. If you are interested, you can check out my DeviantART page for new uploads (you’ll find the link to commission rates in the description for each artwork.)
Business Changes
As I announced on LuanaSpinetti.com, starting 2020 I’ll be gradually switching from a freelance service based business to a more owned business model, with my own products to sell.
Mainly, I’ll be writing and publishing industry books and comics and I will limit my services to a few I still care about offering (and I will be extra picky with clients I choose to work with.)
Conclusion
Year 2020 brought along some good start.
Not everything sparkles and I haven’t been relying on a proper income for months, but things are looking up.
I hope they continue to look up in the next months. *smiles*
Long time reader, first time commenter — so, thought I’d drop a comment..
— and at the same time ask for a favor.
Your wordpress site is very simplistic – hope you don’t mind me asking what theme you’re using?
(and don’t mind if I steal it? :P)
I just launched my small businesses site –also built in wordpress
like yours– but the theme slows (!) the site down quite a bit.
In case you have a minute, you can find it
by searching for “royal cbd” on Google (would appreciate
any feedback)
Keep up the good work– and take care of yourself during the coronavirus scare!
~Justin
LOL Justin. The template I’m using is one I created for this site. Feel free to reuse the code, but just so you know, it’s not perfect. I’m not good at making responsive and mobile-friendly sites yet.
So your site is about CBD? I’m a CBD oil user thanks to chronic health issues, so it’s interesting. Feel free to email me at lu@luana.me if you want some feedback.
Thanks and you take care, too!
~ Luana
I love wrap up posts! It’s always so nice to get to know more about the writer.
Thank you so much, Natasha. Glad you found it interesting. I will do another wrap up soon. 🙂