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Goodbye 2014, Hello 2015
11 years ago
General
Happy New Year! 2014 is long over, 2015 has begun, and I finally have a chance to put hoof to keypad and set out some thoughts. It is heartening that the past twelve months have been positive for so many people, especially when 2013 was so poor.
As is customary, I will start with a few of my own highlights from 2014. So what were they?
- In a surprise turn of events, I became a Brum Fur! Having found a new job at the start of the year, I moved to a whole new part of the country. While I was sad to leave Wales, it did mean I could spend much more time with the West Midlands furs and be properly involved with their meets. I am now proud to be an organiser of the Brumfurs meets. Organising last month’s Christmas Party was just the culmination of months of successful meets with some of the most fantastic people I could hope to meet. However the Brumfurs staff and I will not rest on these successes. Rather, we promise to make 2015 the best year for Birmingham meets yet.
- I returned to
confuzzled, embarking on an epic 20-minute journey to spend a week with furs from every corner of the UK and beyond. Oh, and to do a little Security work as well.
- After a two-year absence, I returned to Eurofurence, for the convention’s first year in Berlin and for my first stint on their security team. I also spent a week in the south of Germany in the company of two good goaty friends of mine
bocki and 
knuddelbock.
- I also dipped my hooves into organising the largest regular furry gathering in the UK (and possibly the world): Londonfurs! With special responsibility for the Newcomers’ Corner initiative, I hope to welcome many more furs in the coming months.
- I am still fencing twice a week, and I ran two half marathons in October.
- My friends continue to astound me with their generosity. Whatever the situation, I can always count on their support. I am so lucky in this respect. When I was facing Christmas alone, up stepped
, and thanks to them, I enjoyed my best Christmas for years. Not to mention all the meets, house parties, fursuiting and impromptu gatherings we have enjoyed this year – too many to list.
- I got back into my writing! Expect plenty more stories in the near future.
Now, some less positive news. The start of 2015 looks set to be full of uncertainty. Several of my close friends already know what has happened, and if any of my friends want to chat about it, they can. But suffice to say, I’m standing on the precipice. That’s good. I’m a mountain goat, I’m at home on precipices. But in short, some big changes are about to happen. Let me explain.
For the past five years or so, I have been living two lives. One life is my furry life. Every time I have travelled to a meet (even 15 minutes away), I have become a different person, and in that life have been all my successes of late. (The proof? Look at my highlights for 2014. Six out of seven are furry-related).
The other life is what I’ve previously called my ‘real life’. For sixteen years, everything seemed to go right for that person. He trotted off to school, did his homework, was polite to everyone, and passed his exams. Then, over several years, everything unravelled. But life didn’t change for him because he himself didn’t want to change. He kept studying politics even though he despised it and it cost him his friends. He took advice from people who barely knew him, and who knew still less about our world of opportunities. And even worse, he was too spineless just to follow his heart. That person is dead, and he deserved to die.
That now means my only persona is Ziegenbock. And no, this doesn’t mean I am going to wear a tail all day, or start bleating at strangers. It’s about taking his personality, the personality which I have been cultivating for five years and which I represent through a white goat, and living it, properly living it. Surefooted. Independent-minded. Hungry to the top. Always curious and always willing to learn, with a deep love for science, technology and the arts. But also ingenious enough to read beyond the base facts and really learn how this world works. And the days of feeling inadequate about gaps in his knowledge? Those are gone.
Therefore this year, I am only making one New Year’s Resolution.
Be Fearless.
Whatever I do this year, whenever and however, I will leap straight in and do it without a hint of fear. Besides, what reason do I have not to be fearless? Nine times out of 10, I get what I need anyway.
But herein lies a problem. Zieg is practically starting from scratch. Ambition is nothing without knowledge and skills. I have been bequeathed some starters (a love of languages, a head for numbers and facts, a decent singing voice), but now it’s up to me to find my passions and to master them. It will be tough, make no mistake. But hey, the climb will be worth it for the view from the summit.
2015 will be a year full of opportunities. Which ones will I be fearless enough to take?
As is customary, I will start with a few of my own highlights from 2014. So what were they?
- In a surprise turn of events, I became a Brum Fur! Having found a new job at the start of the year, I moved to a whole new part of the country. While I was sad to leave Wales, it did mean I could spend much more time with the West Midlands furs and be properly involved with their meets. I am now proud to be an organiser of the Brumfurs meets. Organising last month’s Christmas Party was just the culmination of months of successful meets with some of the most fantastic people I could hope to meet. However the Brumfurs staff and I will not rest on these successes. Rather, we promise to make 2015 the best year for Birmingham meets yet.
- I returned to
confuzzled, embarking on an epic 20-minute journey to spend a week with furs from every corner of the UK and beyond. Oh, and to do a little Security work as well.- After a two-year absence, I returned to Eurofurence, for the convention’s first year in Berlin and for my first stint on their security team. I also spent a week in the south of Germany in the company of two good goaty friends of mine
bocki and 
knuddelbock. - I also dipped my hooves into organising the largest regular furry gathering in the UK (and possibly the world): Londonfurs! With special responsibility for the Newcomers’ Corner initiative, I hope to welcome many more furs in the coming months.
- I am still fencing twice a week, and I ran two half marathons in October.
- My friends continue to astound me with their generosity. Whatever the situation, I can always count on their support. I am so lucky in this respect. When I was facing Christmas alone, up stepped
, and thanks to them, I enjoyed my best Christmas for years. Not to mention all the meets, house parties, fursuiting and impromptu gatherings we have enjoyed this year – too many to list.- I got back into my writing! Expect plenty more stories in the near future.
Now, some less positive news. The start of 2015 looks set to be full of uncertainty. Several of my close friends already know what has happened, and if any of my friends want to chat about it, they can. But suffice to say, I’m standing on the precipice. That’s good. I’m a mountain goat, I’m at home on precipices. But in short, some big changes are about to happen. Let me explain.
For the past five years or so, I have been living two lives. One life is my furry life. Every time I have travelled to a meet (even 15 minutes away), I have become a different person, and in that life have been all my successes of late. (The proof? Look at my highlights for 2014. Six out of seven are furry-related).
The other life is what I’ve previously called my ‘real life’. For sixteen years, everything seemed to go right for that person. He trotted off to school, did his homework, was polite to everyone, and passed his exams. Then, over several years, everything unravelled. But life didn’t change for him because he himself didn’t want to change. He kept studying politics even though he despised it and it cost him his friends. He took advice from people who barely knew him, and who knew still less about our world of opportunities. And even worse, he was too spineless just to follow his heart. That person is dead, and he deserved to die.
That now means my only persona is Ziegenbock. And no, this doesn’t mean I am going to wear a tail all day, or start bleating at strangers. It’s about taking his personality, the personality which I have been cultivating for five years and which I represent through a white goat, and living it, properly living it. Surefooted. Independent-minded. Hungry to the top. Always curious and always willing to learn, with a deep love for science, technology and the arts. But also ingenious enough to read beyond the base facts and really learn how this world works. And the days of feeling inadequate about gaps in his knowledge? Those are gone.
Therefore this year, I am only making one New Year’s Resolution.
Be Fearless.
Whatever I do this year, whenever and however, I will leap straight in and do it without a hint of fear. Besides, what reason do I have not to be fearless? Nine times out of 10, I get what I need anyway.
But herein lies a problem. Zieg is practically starting from scratch. Ambition is nothing without knowledge and skills. I have been bequeathed some starters (a love of languages, a head for numbers and facts, a decent singing voice), but now it’s up to me to find my passions and to master them. It will be tough, make no mistake. But hey, the climb will be worth it for the view from the summit.
2015 will be a year full of opportunities. Which ones will I be fearless enough to take?
rambrissot
~rambrissot
Good luck and I hope you make your goals i am sure you will and I will always be there if you need a chat I am not going anywhere
SilverRat
~silverrat
I'm glad you have set yourself on that path. I very much hope it works out for you. This sounds similar to something I went through a couple of years ago, though since I have always mostly been my furry self it ended up causing a change in that furry self from a mouse to a kangaroo.
