I’ve been doing these a long time, you can read about the years since 2015 if so desired. These are inspired by Tilde, who has taught me that it can be a Good Thing to remember what the last year has been like. Many of the headers in this post are based on my goals for 2025.
I’ve been tracking general activity via LifeCycle for quite a few years now, but beginning during medical leave this year I also started tracking my time just to not feel like it was slipping away into the ether. Some of that time this year (particularly at home as well as at work and coffee shops) can be further broken down as follows. I did not track activities outside of the house (mostly covered by LifeCycle) nor relaxing time in the house because that way lies madness for me.
You’ll also notice a new chart style this year — I moved my life data out of Google Sheets and into Airtable. It’s given me a bunch of fun insights, including this tidbit.
The phrase for this year was empathy without responsibility. This has really been front and center for me, resulting in more effective local organizing within the context of The World On Fire, dealing with memory and cognition issues effectively, having a more balanced approach to job hunting, and to generally being more grounded in impact rather than anxiety. More in this blog post.
Met stated goals
🧠 Figure out what’s happening with my brain/body that has caused me to lose so much focus and connection
Months of investigation led to a diagnosis, which led to months more of treatment. Everyone agrees I’m back to my old “normal,” and it’s just so nice to realize I should be considering something, pause for a moment, and then be able to remember it. The related blog post was written while I was still coming out of things, and I can tell.
👐 Figure out how to be in solidarity with Oakland organizers
I won’t go into great detail here in public, but we’ve all been doing a great job of showing up for each other as needed. I’m honored to be part of such a great group of humans, and value the connections I’ve made with neighbors and organizers in these difficult times. As I said on Mastodon, “You know that feeling you get, when you grab onto the bar and brace yourself for the heavy lift, but you haven’t done it yet? That’s what I feel like right now in my activism.”
📰 Publish zine
Many many years of effort and a collection of lovely collaborators means the zine finally shipped back in August. You can peruse or download it at disasterzine.com. We continue to improve and add to it, but I consider it “done enough.”
💪🏻 Figure out fitness again
in 2024, I worked out about 7 times total over the course of the year. This year, I had already done that by mid February. I’m not as strong as I was in 2023, but I am back in a groove and feeling better about my corporeal being. I’m stoked to continue with Brightside Barbell in the new year, too.
✍🏻 One blog post per month about something that brought me joy
I did it! This was a fun writing prompt through the year, and kept me focused on the positive when often other things felt overwhelming and insurmountable. I wrote about (in order): our cats, having a good day in NYC with my origin family, a field trip to see goats, getting our Little Free Library up (bonus entry), my silly neighborhood birthday party, Locke learning to pedal, deciding to throw Priceless, kids at Priceless, finalizing the disaster zine, taking a break, thriving with my tools, my new wedding ring, and a snow storm. Phew!
Unmet stated goals
🙈 Spend less time in cars
Despite not needing to commute back from South Bay sometimes by car, I still spent more time in cars. Probably to do with all the medical appointments and some socializing. The motorcycle increase was from a fun trip down to LA with Reed to see the Ukrainians we hosted in 2022. Also, I really miss riding my bike.
Other things
💼 The (successful) job hunt
As cognition and memory things wrapped up, I was reflecting deeply on whether or not I wanted to return to work at Apple. I realized how unhappy I had been with how secretive the culture is, and officially departed in July. While I loved my crew, and securing a billion people without them having to care is deeply compelling, the working conditions just weren’t right for me. I proceeded to dive back into digital estate planning and consulting while looking for work.
I started as the manager of the Application Security team at GoFundMe in mid December, and so far it’s a really good time. I posted about taking the job over on The Job Place if you want to take a look.
👦 Parenting
Because I had so much time on disability and then job hunting, I really got to dive in deeper with my relationship with Locke this year, for which I am deeply grateful. It’s so cool to see him grow and learn and change. This year he learned to pedal his bike and to not poop his pants (except for a month-long period where he still would if he was hyper fixated on LEGO, but that seems to have passed).
Locke sending a hug to baba via daddy while baba was traveling
🏕️ Priceless and retreat
This year for Priceless, I took the Air Traffic Control role back on, and will be doing the same in 2026. This means pulling all the moving parts into one cohesive event and getting everyone to talk to each other. SO MUCH FUN. And such a delight to share with family. And it seems like everyone is finally on board to downscope the event — something I see as inherently anticapitalist based on matching the appetite of the community rather than a constant quest for more growth.
🍺 Stopped KAP, paused drinking
I have an ongoing self-medicating ebb and flow. The things that have been the most accessible in the past year or two have been KAP and alcohol. KAP was really useful for over a year in dealing with birthing parent trauma, addressing my own childhood qualms, and helping me think deeply about how I approach problems. However, after awhile, I was using it more as a crutch than benefitting from it, and wanted to stop, which took some effort. I was successful.
I’ve also been reflecting a bit on how much I’ve been drinking as steady state the last few years — not to excess, but a cider or two most nights over several hours. While that’s certainly an improvement in the long arc of my family’s history, it is also not where I’d like to be, so I’m pausing until/unless I can feel like I can do this in a chill way. Golden State Cider makes a delicious NA cider that I’ve been enjoying in the meantime.
🫀 Finished tattoos (for now)
In April, I flew back to England to finish up my chest piece about time and my lower right arm about collective action. I am absolutely in love with all my Santa Perpetua pieces, and love how they all come together on my body. No plans for any further work at this point, which is good because frankly I’m running out of real estate. But also, I said this in 2018 and then got both arms and a chest piece, so.
2026
The word for 2026 will be deliberate. I am very good at thinking fast, but I’d like to spend some more intention around thinking slowly and being deliberate. As I take on responsibilities for managing others, and regain stability, I think pausing to assess and compile thoughts before moving forward will be important.
Goals for 2027
- 💪🏻 Continue at my now-established baseline of fitness (2-3x/wk).
- 📊 Create a plan and metrics for how my team is doing.
- 💬 Balance transparency with overwhelm in how I communicate.
- 💙 Ask for help when I need it, offer when I have something to share.
- 🏕️ Throw a smaller Priceless.
- 👔 Wear fun outfits more often.
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