2020: A year that happened
I mean, kind of.
As I lay in bed this morning, on the first day of 2021, kind of awake and kind of hungover, I think back to a year that was full of “kindas”. Like how I “kinda” kept it together, for example.
My year was marked with kinda growth in some areas and kinda falling on my face in others, but overall I’m grateful to have kept my health, maintained old relationships, and nurtured new ones. There’s nothing else serious or “real” I want to say here, though there’s lots that could or maybe one day should be said, but right now all I want is a gatorade and some pizza. Oh, and to share a video and document some random personal data from this last “year”.
Among goals set at the start of last year, there was basically only one I hit, but then again there was very little hope post-February for, “Social: get out, spend more time with friends. Go to at least 1 concert per month.” I’m still upset about losing out on the RATM reunion show. But, like the man said, “anger is a gift”.
Into what did I channel my rage? Apparently, reading! I had set a goal to read at least 1 book per month and after looking back, it turns out I did ok on that one. Here they all are, most of them ready for borrowing. Themes were largely around consciousness, time, and creativity. Asterisks for my favorite ones of the year.
- Conscious
- Deathly hallows (I technically started this in the last week of 2019)
- Words and Music into the Future
- This Is Your Brain on Music
- The Stranger
- Mo’ Meta Blues*
- Creative Quest
- Collected Works of Kahlil Gibran: The Wanderers / Sand and Foam / The Madman / The Forerunner / The Earth Gods
- Prince the Beautiful Ones*
- Reality is Not What It Seems*
- A Brief History of Time
- The Fifth Agreement*
- Hope Never Dies
- How to Listen to Jazz
- A Primer for Forgetting: Getting Past the Past*
- Walk Through Walls: A Memoir
- I Am A Strange Loop (one chapter left as of now, but this is a challenging book so I’m counting it)*
Re-read
- Slaughterhouse-Five
- Foundation’s Edge
- Foundation and Earth
- The Prophet (from Gibran’s collected works)
- The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Audiobooks
- How to Change Your Mind
- Yes, Please
- The Selfish Gene (previously read ~10 years ago, but wanted a refresh. Also, fun fact: this is where the word “meme” originates)
- Demon Haunted World (also previously read ~10 years ago, but needed to hear some thoughts of hope for the human species, despite our irrational tendencies…for some reason)
One Second Everyday…but not everyday and not always exactly 1 second
A couple years ago I heard about this app 1 Second Everyday and thought it would be cool to try and do that one year. As it happened, 2020 was the first year I remembered to start on 1/1, and it began quite unremarkably, but of course as the year wore on, I realized how auspicious it was that I began the process this year.
Until next year!