This year:
I quit my facebook habit. In doing so I realized how very precarious the whole social media thread is. To get it all crashing down, all that has to happen is that everyone simply stop. I simply stopped. It was really easy. I don't miss it. It added nothing to my life. In fact, it took away from my life. I fantasize about everyone in the whole world deciding just to stop. What a fantastically unifying experience that would be. Everyone together just decides to stop. If everyone stops, there's nothing to compulsively check or respond to.
All we hear today is how critical "social media strategy" is. But how amazing would it be just for everyone to stop using social media. I predict this will happen in one form or another. No one is doing a good job yet of targeting communications through social. I still think there is great value in the inbox and that, instead of trying to replace it with social (NEW) , some smart person is going to figure out how to make the inbox better (TRUE).
I spent more time looking up and out (TRUE) and less time looking down and in (NEW). I will continue to do so.
I moved to a houseboat and surrounded myself with pure silence, which I crave more and more desperately as my noise sensitivity seems to only increase. (TRUE)
I refurnished my old house and rented it out. Michael did all the work. (NEW)
I spent a lot of time reading, watching, and thinking about ballet. I made a fool of myself by letting nostalgia get the better of me and I dug out an old pair of pointe shoes and put them on. Back in the day, it was second nature to support my dragonfly physique on the tips of my toes. Doing a simple releve today felt like trying to support a concrete house on a foundation of potato chips (NEW). What a terribly unpleasant wake up call. (TRUE)
I witnessed a lot of friends and colleagues having babies.
I witnessed a lot of friends and colleagues losing a parent (NEW). I realized this is no longer a freak occurrence and that it will continue to happen every year for the rest of my life. (TRUE)
I became obsessed with Seth Godin's blog and I read it every single day. The man is a genius and I feel like he is talking directly to me. (TRUE)
I was profoundly struck by two little sound bytes: Louis CK's hilarious routine on a late night talk show where he said "Everything is amazing and no one is happy." (NEW) Also, a factoid on Stephen Fry's "QI" informed us that the the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull resulted in 150,000 tons of CO2 emitted every day it was spewing. However, as a result of the grounding of airplanes, it prevented the further emission of 2.8 million tons of CO2 that would have been emitted by the planes through the course of regular scheduled flights. So net, the amount of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere as a result of the eruption was actually reduced. (TRUE)
As I get older, my resentment and disappointment toward humanity increases (NEW). But in my personal life, I am filled with optimism. I had mentioned I think in last year's wrap up that we "go through this together." I feel that even more strongly than ever (TRUE).
I am 42 now which means that I have lived one half of my life as a child and one half as an adult. I won't even be retired yet when I live the next 20 years as an adult. I feel as though I have just been born into my potential as an individual, a friend, a productive and creative person. I spent most of the last two years feeling like the end of my life was going to be one big contiuum of adulthood. Decades and Decades of sameness.
Well of course that is just silly. Now is the time when we really get to call the shots more than ever before. My optimism comes from a sense of responsibility. I am in a position to make changes for the good and so are a lot of people my age. To take the risk and know that if it fails it won't be catastrophic. People said "yes" to me this year and I said "yes" to others. This is incredibly energizing and we should all say yes to each other more often.
I wish you a fantastic 2012 (NEW). Let's say YES to each other’s dreams (TRUE).
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