Happy 13th Birthday, Around The Spiral!

 Hello Wizards!

You've read the title correctly.. Around the Spiral is officially a teenager! Now, don't worry I won't be going through the "teenage years" with a bad attitude. We all know that occurred several years ago! 🤣 Instead, I want to bring Around the Spiral to new heights and reach a wider audience than just here through my blog. Let's talk!

For years, I've made blog posts or created guides (my past project). I became burned out with blogging back in 2020. I took nearly a three year hiatus to focus on my mental health - which became a major problem from 2015 through the early 2020s. I've improved a lot, but still have work to do. One part of improving my mental health is doing things I enjoy - which is playing Wizard101 and Pirate101. 

These are hobbies. I don't look to be paid for it because I already have a career path that I'm enjoying. I'm happy for those that are able to work while playing these games or any games for that matter. That's a pretty cool job. What I'm hoping to do is build up Around the Spiral to get as many people to know that they are loved and respected in this community.

A true judgmental zone and safe space involves not judging people based on their sexuality, their race, their religion, who they vote for, etc. I'm not capable of changing the community on my own - it takes everyone to do that. I do hope this platform can be part of the change that shows everyone that no matter what they believe, they are welcome in this community. There are people that will agree to disagree. I'm not perfect, I've certainly had my moments - in the past. What I've always wanted, even during those imperfect moments was to make new friends that didn't judge me for who I am. I did judge others for judging me which was a major mistake on my end. 

We all know our world is crazy and a whole lot of bad is occurring. We don't have to ignore the bad, but we can share kindness because I'm a firm believer one kind action can go a long way. One thing I'm very excited about is a new program that I (and anyone) was able to join - Wizard101 Extra Credits. This program doesn't restrict us to only praise the game/team. I believe its purpose is to unite us to also share our love for the game. We can still share our thoughts on what we want changed. That's awesome!

In addition to posting about various topics each month for Extra Credits, I am also going to expand Around the Spiral to new platforms. I know about the leadership talks, but... for now, I'm excited to announce that Around the Spiral is officially on TikTok! It took me years to finally decide to start sharing content there. Anywhere from 0 to 1 million people may watch whatever videos I post on there. LOL. I'm acting silly ab out it, but I think it'll be fun to make different types of videos there. I've had many ideas in the past but never got to share them since I didn't have a TikTok. Now that I do, I hope you'll join me on there for a lot of fun stuff. It'll be slow postings at first, but as we progress through Summer - there will be many new uploads. I've embedded my first video at the bottom of this post if you'd like to check it out.

Overall, I want to try my best to make fun videos, posts, events, and more to help guide a focus on more fun stuff. Life is short. We should always make the best of it - which I hope to do during the teenage years of Around the Spiral. We WILL make it to 20. Imagine that... 20 years old... Goodness. 2033 better not rush here too fast. Anyway, I want to thank each and everyone of you from the bottom of my heart for all of the support you've shown me and this website over the past 13 years. I'm so thankful to call each and everyone of you my friends. Thank you for reading and here's to 13 more years of Around the Spiral. 

@aroundthespiral101 My FAVORITE Wizard101 Pet! #Wizard101ExtraCredits #Wizard101 #W101 ♬ original sound - aroundthespiral101

I'm Looking Forward To The Halloween Run

Hello Wizards!

Yeah, it's still May. I've had this obsession with Halloween as of late. I've seen flowers that are "Fall" colors and I keep thinking about this year's Halloween Run. I already plan to announce the event next month after the Pride Run. I've never announced an event so far in advance but I want to go all out for this event. 

My plans are to promote to parts of the community the event hasn't been promoted. My main goal is to let everyone know there are people that love hanging out in game to make new friends and have fun together. The Halloween Run has always been one of my favorite types of events to attend - despite hosting it. You may have recently read that we're planning on hosting events first and activities second. This is the outline for the events here on out. I'll give everyone a reason to stay for the activities - adding new ones and bringing old loved & popular ones back. 

The main reason I'm looking forward to the Halloween Run is because we've missed at least three years of them in a row due to many different reasons. We will NOT miss this one. I want to make up for all of the lost time. If you're new to attending these events - I welcome you to join us in a year of fun. I hope to add more events throughout the year, but not so many that we get burnt out. 

I tweeted out that I wish we could host the Halloween Run now. Gosh, if I could, you know I would. It wouldn't be strange - I've hosted a Santa Run event back in 2020 when COVID was just being announced. It was a way to get everyone's mind off of the awfulness of the world at that time. However, I will wait for the Halloween Run. October will be here before we know it... We just have to... wait. Plus we have other great events coming up. If you see any time wizards - tell them we'd like it to be October about now. Thanks! Until next time, I'll see you around the Spiral.

It's Not About Me, It's About You

 Hello Wizards!

I hope all of you had an amazing weekend. It was quite a weekend with Fansite Festival. I wanted to thank the main hosts - Sheldon and also Iridian Willow for putting this event together despite being very busy! They managed to set up the times, send out all of the codes, and promote & also host their own events. Thank you for all of your hard work!

Show Your Support By Following Them On Twitter

@SheldonCentral

@Iridian_Willow

In addition, I wanted to thank you all again for your support on Saturday. Your feedback always helps me improve what needs to be improved. You are the reason that these events take place and it's only fair to make the events fit your expectations. I'm looking forward to seeing you all again throughout the year. I hope to host some mini events in addition to our main run events. I'll keep you updated on that. Anyway, I'm glad I was able to make this post this morning because I was thinking about y'all. Thank YOU for making these events happen.