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Here's my New Year thread; forewarning so you can mute if you're over New Year threads.
2020 was a tough year in several respects, to say the least. I had no idea going into it that it would be one of the most transformative years of my life, but I think that it was.
2020 was a tough year in several respects, to say the least. I had no idea going into it that it would be one of the most transformative years of my life, but I think that it was.
In this order, I:
Joined the New York Times
Reported — in person — during a pandemic
Interviewed someone who, days later, died
Had surgery
Moved several states over into our first house
Worked from home...with both of my kids
Turned 30
Watched the feds kill a man
Joined the New York Times
Reported — in person — during a pandemic
Interviewed someone who, days later, died
Had surgery
Moved several states over into our first house
Worked from home...with both of my kids
Turned 30
Watched the feds kill a man
I also contracted covid19, as did everyone else in my household. It was barely anything to us, just a cold — but it was frightening in that we were dangerous to other people without knowing, at least for a short time. It was sobering and dreadful.
Moving was hard, especially with things being what they were. So was working while managing the kids full time. At some point I accepted that the key to everything was hyper-organization and routine, or maybe I was just playing to my strengths in a crisis. Maybe we all did.
Turning 30 was good. I thought I would be bothered by it, at least as a milestone reminder of the passage of time, but I haven't been. I feel more like an adult, and I like the feeling. It's good to feel more confident, less uncertain. I can see the shape of my life from here.
And I've earned by way of experience the two pieces of advice I feel sure of. For what it's worth, here they are:
1.) It's better to look stupid while hewing to your principles than to part from them for appearances' sake.
2.) Everything benefits from patience.
1.) It's better to look stupid while hewing to your principles than to part from them for appearances' sake.
2.) Everything benefits from patience.
To learn how to do anything — patience. To solve a problem — patience. To change something — patience. To bake something intricate and wonderful — patience. Before returning an email, smashing the return in Slack, clicking 'tweet' — just a pause, a moment's patience.
Scant advice, of course, and I'm writing it as much to imprint it on my own thoughts as I am to share it with anyone who could use it. What I like best about my job is that I am required by it to learn constantly, and to record what I learn in writing, to share.
I hope you receive all these things as the letters that they are — notes from a fellow traveler. Thank you for reading along with me, and spending time with me here. I hope 2021 is good to you, very good. Whatever comes, though — ancora imparo. We'll still be learning.
