The last week of the year is the most important and most tedious week of my year. That’s because I’ve made it a regular practice to spend the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day reviewing everything that happened that year. This is a time-intensive task where I look through hour-by-hour data—including calendars, photos, emails, text messages, etc—to reflect on my year. I believe that reflection turns experience into insight, so in order to gain insights for the following year, I do this annoying task annually.
After reflecting, if I see that a year was particularly notable, I’ll post a journal entry about it (like I did in 2023, 2020, 2015, 2014, and 2012), but when a year is subpar, I prefer to keep the highlights and lowlights to myself. The year 2024 ranked among the least-good years that I’ve had thus far, so I wanted to forego writing about it, but ultimately I decided to proceed. I chose to share this year-in-review for two reasons: 1) I think it’s important to celebrate positive highlights in the midst of sour moments, and 2) I wanted to remind myself that even when I faced moments that felt like they’d consume me, I made it!
Here are some of the moments that were particularly special for me in 2024:
Projects
- I started a podcast
- I created a ping pong scoring and replay app for my personal use
- I built three LEGO sets – The Office, Breaking Bad, and Iron Man
- I created an online store, called “Geremy’s Lab”, to sell my home made creations
- I recorded a rap song (which is unlikely to ever be shared)
Life
- My sister gave birth to my third nephew
- My second nephew took his first steps at my house
- I joined a basketball league
- I injured my finger pretty badly and had to get stitches
- Sadly, I attended three funerals (more than I’ve attended from 2003 to 2023)
Travels
- Central Florida area
- Houston, Texas
- Trinidad
- Southern Florida area
- Boston, Massachusetts area
Experiences
- I experienced my first earthquake ever
- I hosted a party for 25+ people at my home
- I took a pasta-making class
- I learned how to embroider clothing
- I played a lot of ping-pong
- I attended a paint and sip (my painting wasn’t good…you wouldn’t want to see it)
- I rediscovered chocolate gummy bears and spent half the year trying to find more of them
Let me know if you’d like me to share about any of these things in greater detail in a future post.
Looking ahead to 2025, I’m setting my sights on a few specific goals, one of which is to regularly share my experiences here on my online journal. Last year I posted 21 journal entries and I’d like to top that number of posts this year.
I’m hopeful!