New year, same as the old year?

I haven't gemposted this year until today. I had a nice gentle break over Christmas, and then work took over my life again.

But I'm determined that 2022 isn't just going to be 2020-21 Groundhog Day. It certainly feels like it could be. I'm still working from home, and it doesn't seem like that's going to change any time soon. We're all wearing masks, avoiding being inside with people outside our household, and, if we're unlucky, getting COVID or even dying from it. After two years, however, I think I'm finally a bit more psychologically prepared. Being triple-vaccinated obviously helps a lot with that too.

Many people have been doing some deep personal reflection about what's important to them over the last two years, and I'm no exception. I realised I want and need to be around people (though definitely not all the time). I've also realised that I had talked myself into needing to be some kind of major actor: a rescuer, a leader, perhaps a hero. But I've had a lot of time to think lately, and I don't need to be any of those things, and I'm not sure I want to be. Maybe this is just what getting older is like?

What I can be is a supporter, a positive influence, a dependable friend, comrade and family member. That's enough. We 'save the world' collectively.

I'm not really a 'new year resolution' kind of guy, but I do have some personal goals this year, and the old/new year break is a natural time to think about these things. Here's some I've been thinking about:

read 40 books (a much higher number than I've read the last couple of years, but that's the point: less doomscrolling, more books)

reach out to old friends and call them on the phone

only schedule work meetings to run for 30 minutes or less

always have an agenda, stated purpose and intended outcomes for work meetings

log off from work at 5pm or earlier every day

maintain daily physical exercise all through the year

explore some new places around Melbourne and Victoria

send postcards to people for no reason

make myself dispensible in every endeavour by documenting, sharing knowledge, and creating simple processes

I expect to be working from home most or all of this year. I'm not going to let it get to me. We'll muddle through all this.

I also have a SECRET PROJECT I started last weekend. It's going to remain secret until I get it into a state where I won't feel pressured (by myself) to work on it every spare hour because people can see it. Might be a couple of months, might be the whole year, who knows.

Stay safe. Be yourself.