2023 Year In Review

 I wake up most days thinking, I haven’t done anything, I haven’t done enough, what am I doing with my life?, and so on. I have a hunch that we all do this. So I am compiling a list below to prove to myself that I am definitely doing something; it is just very hard to see it objectively. Our thoughts always seem to cloud how we understand ourselves.

These activities mean nothing unless I acknowledge that they are not done alone, and that they are always rooted in relationships. Relationships nourish and give meaning to the work. So, many thanks to my wife Jen, son Henry, my family, and friends, too.

This is also a reminder that the idea of success is something that has to be defined from inside, and not from somewhere else. I can say from direct experience that it is too easy to get caught up in rejections; they oftentimes obscure good things that are already happening. That same is true with the frustration of “comparing and despairing.” It’s just not that helpful.

All of these things — seeing ourselves with compassion, accepting that creative work is rooted in relationships, and defining success on our own terms — require a special kind of paying attention; one where we concede that life is pretty hard, and that we should all take it easy on ourselves. So, this is what I aim to do now, and in the new year, too.