2012 in review

[firecat]

I'm not going to post the whole meme. It was a fairly quiet year for me and most of my loved ones, although some folks I cared about had things much harder than they deserved. The sad parts for me were when my two cats got sick and died. The happy parts were when I went to Wiscon and got my knitting mojo back. I'm happier than I was at the beginning of the year.

A conversation I had a bunch of times with the judgemental part of my brain: "Well, if you'd TOLD ME EARLIER that it mattered for me to be very influential, maybe I would be. But lying in wait and springing it on me when I turned 50 wasn't a good way to proceed if that's what you wanted."

What lyrics will you remember most from 2012?
"Oppa Gangnam Style..."

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Here am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the moon.
Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can do.

How was your year?

Comments

[wild_irises]

I think you are more influential than you know ...

[firecat]

Thanks for the feedback. You're probably right. I look forward to getting to a place where I agree with you and/or no longer care about it.

[wild_irises]

I look forward to that too!

[bcholmes]

For what it's worth, you've been a big influence on me in the decade or so that I've known you.

[firecat]

Thank you. I like and admire you a lot, so I am glad to know that.

[elainegrey]

A conversation I had a bunch of times with the judgmental part of my brain: "Well, if you'd TOLD ME EARLIER that it mattered for me to be very influential, maybe I would be. But lying in wait and springing it on me when I turned 50 wasn't a good way to proceed if that's what you wanted."

This made me smile so.

Since i just added your reading list to my reading list, i can point directly to some of your influences on me.

I'm curious: is this "influential" in the work space? Speaker at conferences and so on?

[firecat]

Wow!

Lately I sometimes have a feeling of regret and envy when I read or think about what some people are doing. People who teach, who write highly regarded essays/blogs/books, who start/run interesting projects that help other people. People who sound good in their holiday newsletters and the university alumni/ae magazine.

[elainegrey]

Ah.

As i poke and prod at my "What do i want to do with the rest of my life?" question, i fear i'm going to find that i want to do X which will require Y and it will be far too late for me to learn/develop Y. I think that's why your internal response resonated, and struck me as a strong response, not the anxious worry i've got hanging about me.

[firecat]

Yeah, I've already experienced that a few times over. I decided that it wasn't practical to raise sled dogs in Alaska, but walking dogs at the local animal shelter would take care of some of what was behind the desire.

My problem isn't so much finding an X that requires a Y I can't do, as settling on any one X long enough to commit to doing any Y.