It’s been a while since I last did this.
Accomplishments
- learned a lot about relationships, especially with respect to communication.
- moved across the country after living in DC for 41 months
- got a new job
- went on fun hiking adventures – deep snow, put chains on tires to escape, Lassen, Tomales point
- broke down my bike and rebuilt it by hand, then embarked on a 55 mile ride through Marin
- played music regularly with friends. I even played live for the first time in a while with “Alright alright.“
- renegotiated old relationships and developed the core of a good community in SF
- a year of fun free things: bike party, beach bonfires, lots of walks to hilltop views
- quit drinking alcohol for a month
- quit drinking caffeine for three weeks
- saw my family more than the previous year
- Moved to SF on the early side of a gathering of good vibes people, which should continue into 2015
- tons of fun travel: Nashville, Austin, Morro Bay, San Bernardino, hot springs, New York, Mendocino, Tahoe, Sonoma, Detroit, Ann Arbor, BHM, Atlanta, Chattanooga, Mexico City, DC, Fargo > Minnesota > Fargo, Joshua Tree
- started writing again towards the end of the year
- gained a reputation for “finding out about things” even though I’m new to SF / the West
- started a morning religion biking to Ocean Beach and touching the water weekly with folks
- wrote some more by hand than last year
- made an impact in civic tech by bringing in radical colleagues from Detroit to the CfA network
- participated in #BlackLivesMatter protests
- caused controversy at work by discussing institutional white supremacy
- went through the darkness into the light
- my going away party in DC had karaoke (thanks PTRQ)
Failures
- didn’t move on up in the new job
- didn’t establish regular public music performance
- didn’t plan well for the holidays
- didn’t really make or build or teach a whole lot in terms of work
- didn’t even put up my art in the house yet
- You know, these are just examples of not trying.
- All you have to do is try / ask.
Five Pictures to Sum Up 2014
1.
http://instagram.com/p/wkSc-KnU-_/
2.
http://instagram.com/p/wChHhvHUyM/
3.
http://instagram.com/p/j48SmZHU43/
4.
http://instagram.com/p/xSp6jhHU2x/
5.
Status of NYE 2012 Vision: New Worldview, or Views of the World
I last wrote an end of the year review at the end of 2010. I moved back to the US four months prior, lived with my girlfriend of two years, and didn’t have a paying job. My life changed so much since then.
I’ve done a lot in those four years. I dated around for the first time. I moved into a new neighborhood, Mount Pleasant, and then across the country to SF. I worked with a significant assembly of digital justice actors in DC, the Broadband Bridge. I let myself get cowed into submission and self-denial by a superior. I let myself get cowed into submission and self-denial by someone I loved. I saw what I needed to do and figured out how to take first steps to leave those things behind.
The core of who I am, how I have behaved:
- I found place(s) I wanted to be, and made it there.
- I found the kind of people I wanted to be around, and made them my friends.
- I want to build communities, so I built them with elements from the first two behaviors.
- I get distracted all the time, and I still haven’t figured out how to fix that!
- I want to break orbit so far that I can’t find my way back. My life in the last four years validates that strategy, which originates from the end of my high school years through college. I didn’t have a name for it then, but “breaking orbit” seems right. It’s the scientific side of going through the darkness to get to the light.
On New Years Eve, I got the sense of finding what I sought. I’m not sure what it was. It feels like I came down from standing on my toes. My heels hit the ground soft, my back feels good. I do not fear moments.
Looking forward to NYE 2016
- I work more as an engineer than I did in 2014.
- I play music regularly, publicly!
- I am more of a boon and less of a burden on people.
- I wake up earlier.
- I go deep to build communities.
