Am I further along than where I started?
Lessons learned this year
In my first letter of the year, I wrote about how I’d like to be further along at the end of this year than where I’m starting it. I set out for a fuzzier finish line because it allows for reflecting on the stops, starts, and stumbles that all add distance to the journey. Here are a few of the things I learned along the way.
Getting engaged is fun! Well, writing about it is fun. “Acting like a weirdo and hoping no one will notice” for 24 hours is stressful.
Aging was on my mind. Things like how old we think we are, who we spend our time with as we get older, and what I would have wanted to know at 22.
My best writing —or best anything, really—comes from the heart for people I love.
You’re allowed to disappoint people. And if your relationship is worth it, you’ll move past it.
If you’re waiting for the busyness of life to slow down, you’ll be waiting for awhile so don’t let it spoil the good stuff that’s happening today.
You can go back again. It takes some time, and it looks a little different, but you can do it.
Talking to other creative people is a lot of fun, and I’m grateful to Jason Diamond, Amaya Lim, and Becca Freeman for playing along with The Neary Questionnaire, and adding new voices to The Review.
In that first letter I wrote, “It may sound unambitious, but I just want to finish this year in the plus column. I want enough momentum to carry on to the next, to keep the job going. It’s never finished, but that’s not the point. The point is to keep going.”
Here we go again.