2023 Year In Review
On seeking reasons, being goals, and what a happy day looks like.
“We seek reasons out of things that happen” — not the other way around. I’ve stopped believing things happen for a reason. Instead, I think we find comfort by constructing meaning from what unfolds around us. The question I’m sitting with as 2023 closes: can mistakes and omissions become sources of value?
Goals for 2023
I set two being goals this year — not achievement targets, but sustained orientations:
- To be a good child
- To be a good parent
Both answers come back affirmative, but both have room to grow.
What a Happy Day Looks Like
The happiest day of 2023 was on paternity leave, in a riverside condo. Pre-dawn run, coffee with family, breakfast together, playing guitar with my child. That day has become an archetype — a template for constructing more days like it. Is a good life simply a series of good days?
Stop Wasting Precious Attention
Attention is the real constraint. Back at work, juggling roles, I caught myself scrolling as “reward.” The turning point: realising my presence mattered more than my productivity. The guiding principle for 2024 — pursue only what you never regret upon completion.
The Indirect Example
My child imitated something unsafe they’d seen me do. Children learn through what you are, not what you say. Yo-Yo Ma again: pass fewer toxins to the next generation. The goal isn’t instruction — it’s lived example.
Wishing you more than luck in 2024.