Entering a New Phase of Life

The thing about new phases of life is that they are rather difficult before and during the experiences.

Perhaps this is because they are often expensive - not necessarily in financial terms, though that can also be the case, but also in energetic and mental terms.

Moving to a new temporary place of residence certainly isn’t a walk in the park. Having to say goodbye to the previous place of residence is also tough.

The thing to look forward to, however, is perhaps worth it - a new home, with new fixtures, fittings, and furnishings.

On top of the obvious improved living conditions, we are planning for our new abode to house our hobbies, host our communities, and hone our skills.

Today marks the first day of the path towards this change.

I look forward to its completion.

Re-connecting in 2024

For the past 2 years, I’ve been generally focused on work-related things.

Now that I’m mostly familiar with workflow and tasks needed where I work, I don’t need as long of a runway for projects as I used to.

This frees up some time and brainspace for me, which is great!

In the coming quarters of the year, I intend to start re-connecting with communities and individuals that I’ve not managed to keep in constant contact with.

It will start slow - attending events and dropping messages here and there - but I believe that it will be worth it.

Hoping to meet you soon at an upcoming event or activity!

Farewell 2023, Hello 2024! Some Thoughts on Lessons in the Past Year - Good Community

No surprises on where I was yesterday - Dec 31.

We are there every year-end to review the year that passed and think about upcoming one.

I haven’t thought about my Word of the Year yet, though I have thought about some of the lessons from experiences in 2023.

One of them is on the importance of being part of, and maintaining, good communities.

Perhaps for the worse, I haven’t been part of many good communities in a long time. Many of them always felt distant, indifferent, or self-absorbed.

Of course, I was certainly a common denominator, so maybe it was just me.

And, of course, over the years, I just decided that maintaining such relationships wasn’t worth it. Why would you want to invest time and energy into a relationship with someone who wasn’t investing anything nearly as much?

I’m not saying that everything has to be exactly 50%, right down the middle. That would be unrealistic and pretty unreasonable.

At the very least, you want to feel accepted and that people are trying to understand you, or parts of you.

You also want to want to give back. I think that this 2nd part is increasingly an important criterion for me.

Having gone through 2023 with a few good communities, I’m happy to say that I am happy to give back to these communities.

Carrying on into 2024, I will endeavour to do this.

Wishing you and yours a fruitful 2024 ahead, filled with learning, meaning, and joy. Have a great one!

Why Are We So Easily Influenced? It May Have To Do With the Cultures We Grew Up In.

We're all highly susceptible to influence.

Why? Because we are social and self-preserving. We don't just do best in community, we actively need and seek it out.

Thus, it's no wonder that we want to be part of a community.

And to fit in that community, we take cues of behaviour and mindsets from others around us, especially those who are respected or, at least, somehow elevated in the community.

Since this is all hardwired into us, and we've been picking up cues since we were born, we get really good at it. Practically an instinct.

Which means that it's also impossible to be free of influences.

What I learned is:

The first thought that enters our heads is a result of external influences, whether it's upbringing, culture, the people I hang around with the most, etc.

We can call this programming, conditioning, internalisation, or what we like, but it's kind of in-built and very difficult to override.

What's really important is what we do, say, and/or think after that first thought appears.

That is what makes us who we are.