It's No April Fools Joke

Hello Wizards!

I hope you're having a wonderful start of your April. To start off, I just want to remind you to keep practicing social distancing, washing your hands, and covering your mouth when you cough. Remind your friends of this as we continue through the month of April. So, let's talk about something. Today is April Fool's Day and while I had a joke planned late last year, I decided not to participate in it. Today, I want to talk about something that's not a joke.. The Massive Comeback of SpiralVision and this blog.

Over the past few weeks, I've been thinking about this website and our Twitch Channel, SpiralVision. In early January, I announced that I have decided to focus more on my personal life instead of as much attention on the games. During this 3 month break from events and blogging, I started thinking about the community and the direction it is going. I don't believe I can ever change the community on my own. I also don't believe it's my time to leave the community. While I won't be here a century and a half, I would like to provide more to the community, especially during these crazy times.

I haven't totally been away from the community - as some of you may see, I still tweet and I also participate in group questing every Sunday with an amazing group of friends (everyone is more than welcome to join us). SpiralVision has also been on my mind. I announced a few days ago that I wanted to host a Santa Run, but, I decided I wanted to host a different kind of event (and host the Santa Run in December as we usually do). We will soon be hosting an event called The Wizard Run. We are going to put a lot of work into this event for the community - so do keep an eye out for more information here on Around The Spiral and on social media. You won't want to miss it!

A Wizard Run is coming! You won't want to miss this - especially if it's been a while since you've attended one of our events! Keep an eye out on social media for more information. pic.twitter.com/Ut0M8pPEar

— EdwardLifegem (@EdwardLifegem) March 30, 2020

Overall, I just wanted to make this post to let you know that I'm not giving up and I will be back to do my part, along with many other great people here, to make the community the best place to be for all. I'd love to improve upon my time here by recognizing the mistakes I've made and not repeat them. I'd also like to focus on the positive parts of the community and promote it through our events and this website. There are many things to look forward to this year and I hope you join me to make them happen. Let's make this community as inclusive as it can be! Thank you all for reading. Until next time, I'll see you around the spiral.

Be Positive!

Hi there,

So many things have changed over the past few months that you have to ask yourself.. how and why?! Today, I thought I'd make a blog post to say hello a few months after I announced that I would no longer be making blog posts. These are truly crazy times that we're living in, but it's not all doom & gloom. There are actually many things that we can look forward to doing during this brief period of time!

One major way I've got my mind off the stuff going on in real life has been logging into this awesome game named Wizard101. I don't know how many of you have heard of this amazing game, but it's kept my mind off the chaos going on offline. I've leveled my myth wizard, participated in gardening, pet leveling, and more, over the past few weeks. If you check the various realms in the game, you may have noticed that there are many others doing the same thing! I'm extremely thankful for Kingsisle's work to keep the game going during these times. Keep up the great work, Kingsisle, and stay safe!

One other thing that I've been doing that is listening to Christmas music. Christmas has always been a time of year that lifts my spirits. One day I was listening to a song that we played for quite a few Santa Run events and thought that it would be awesome and different to host a Santa Run event this Spring. So, I will be announcing more details about an upcoming Santa Run event within the next week! Keep an eye out for more information about this upcoming event. I'll be sure to host it during a time that most are able to attend. 

Overall, I wanted to make this blog post to let you all know that I've been thinking about you. I will continue to keep each and every one of you in my prayers. Please continue to stay safe by taking this virus seriously. Follow the CDC guidelines - https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/prevention.html - by washing your hands and avoiding close contact (especially in large groups of people). It's very important that you continue following these guidelines no matter where you live. We will get through this time. In the meantime, know that not everything is as it seems. It's not the end of the world, but we do have time to do things we normally don't do such as finding a new hobby, hanging out with our family a lot more, and overall, appreciating life more than we do when we're busy. Stay safe everyone and be positive! Until next time, I'll see you around the spiral.

All Good Things Must Come To An End

Hello!

Today, I wanted to announce something that I wasn't planning on announcing until after my website's 10th Birthday (which I still plan on celebrating - but that'll be my final blog post). After long thought, I've decided that it is time for me to move forward in life. That means, not being as active in the community.

Today I wanted to talk about what made me decide it was time for me to move on. Over the past several years, there has been a lot of craziness in the community. I've also involved myself in the dreaded word - drama. During these times, I said I wanted to leave, but never really left. That was because I felt there was more I wanted to do to try to bring the community together. Recently, I've determined that I have indeed done my part over the past 10 years to bring the community together through online safety, events, group questing, etc. 

I was recently watching The Abracadoodle Show - that was released 10 years ago last week by BasicWizards. I was reading through the comments and I read one that was posted 10 years ago. I kept reading "10 years ago" over and over again. I couldn't even believe that time flew by this quickly. After that, I started thinking about the things that I've done over the past nearly 11 years that I've played Wizard101. I've made so many great friends and while I've had friends come and go, I wouldn't change anything. 

I can't even begin to thank ALL of you enough for the amazing memories I've had in this community. Y'all helped me through so many difficult times in my life. Three of the times being the loss of three close family members. And two other times were times when I had severe depression & anxiety. I can say today that I'm a happier person than I was when I joined the community and game. So thank you all so much for helping me through all of the crazy times.

I truly love this community & the games that Kingsisle works on. I have no doubt in my mind that this community will continue to grow & unite as one. I hope it's your goal over the next 10 years to unite the community. Make it different than what this crazy world is currently like. That's really what got me so involved in the community in 2009. Now that it's 2020, I'll be focusing on being the best order filler that I can be, earning a business degree, living my life as a gay man (the shocking revelation or maybe not so shocking to all of you - haha), etc. By the way, I'm also visiting a beach for the first time this year! I'm so excited! I have so much to look forward to in life. And so do you. Continue supporting the game while you can AND please live your life. I love ALL of you. Until May 10th, 2020. I'll see you around the spiral.