It’s once again time to be thematic. I’m calling 2024 my Year of Opportunity. Characterized by a desire to explore and treat new experiences with more positivity and excitement, I hope to make the most of what could be our final year living in California while also increasing my appreciation for the life I’ve built.
Since I began consciously thinking about a yearly theme in 2019, I’ve made sure to have a space to capture ideas for future themes. The first idea I wrote down this year was Year of (Cautious) Exploration. I had been feeling pre-nostalgic for our time in San Francisco, and felt early on that exploring the city and state around me should be a priority. I want free time and new adventures to be part of my routine, embracing them as core elements rather than disruptions in the flow of life. While the shape of my 2024 theme has changed, I still consider exploration a core aspect of it.
A couple other contenders from my notes were Year of Doing and A Year Without Excuses. Those were two sides of the same coin, with the phrasing dependent on how hard I opted to be on myself. I’ve been intermittently frustrated with how I don’t stay focused throughout the day, or fail to attack certain evening tasks and hobbies with the vigor and excitement I used to have. I find that embodying the motto of Nike (™ ™) is surprisingly effective,1I acknowledge that it’s ultimately unhelpful “advice” or motivation for many people. so rephrasing a theme around that idea felt sensible. Yet that framing assumes the symptom—not doing things—is all that matters. In reality, Year of Doing wouldn’t get to the core of why I’ve been feeling this way and provides no additional guidance on how to improve moving forward.
Opportunity became a way to tie together a light touch of wanderlust with a new way to view my daily life. Seeing the world around me—the state and national parks, museums, theaters, concert venues, and new friends—as a chance to experience the world is massively motivating. Combine that with an understanding that expanding my horizons is fun and enlightening, and I’m well on my way to hitting the ground running. But life isn’t always going to be novel. I have a day job; I have to grind through tasks and chores just like everyone else. Fortunately, I work for a company in which I believe, and do a job I can enjoy. Understanding that work and hobbies are what I choose to do lets me view the time I spend on them as a new opportunity to learn and grow. If I’m going to be spending the time doing it, I should do it well and get as much out of that time, as a person, as possible.
Once I began thinking this way, it was easy to apply my theme to nearly every corner of my life. Eating well and exercising? Easy. Every dinner is an evening I can grow closer to Erin, make something new or interesting, or acknowledge that we need to eat something and it might as well be healthy and inexpensive. This can help us appreciate the times we purposely go out by ourselves or with friends. Each new project at work—whether it’s full-time or contract—is a chance to learn more, improve some element of how I do my job, and make my personal stock more valuable. Going through this intentional process of sharing a theme with Erin is also an opportunity to learn more about how themes apply to our lives, and improve our abilities to assess the course of our theme and correct as necessary.
Like most themes, Year of Opportunity will greatly benefit from being constantly pushed into my face, nudging me little-by-little into a more grateful and exploratory mindset. I loved the poster I made last year for Year of the Future and decided to repeat that exercise. I immediately knew I wanted a mountain visual to honor the core of exploration. The first version was made by hand using PNGs without backgrounds, assembling them in a vector program, and filling in the gaps. I agonized over the typeface for quite a while, but ended up with a passable effort.
Since this blog and my life is generally a non-commercial entity, I felt it was reasonable to give image generation a try via DiffusionBee on the Mac. I rarely use it, but it’s a solid tool when relevant. It took several attempts before I landed on one that made topographical sense while using the vector/clip art style I like. I’m a sucker for rivers and lakes so that was a required element if I was asking an algorithm to make it for me.
While I like the straightforward, bold cleanliness of my original design, it feels too similar to last year’s blue and yellow scheme. Plus it doesn’t have any water features. The generated design is more visually interesting, and the muted colors feel calming and cool. I’ll get it printed and laminated soon and give it pride-of-place on my desk.
Putting that together was fun, but a theme needs more structure than an image on paper. I plan to cut back my baseball commitment to every other week at most, to allow greater flexibility in plans with friends, and have more weekends where we could drive somewhere for a day or two. I have a few specific places I’d like to explore—Monterey, Pinnacles, Lassen, Crater Lake—along with several museums and walking trails within San Francisco.
Beyond those basic “goals”, Erin and I have our check-ins that we discussed while on our Theme Retreat last month. We’re taking our themes seriously, together. This year has promise. I’m excited to have consistent support and to be able to provide it, working in tandem with Erin to build ourselves up.
- 1I acknowledge that it’s ultimately unhelpful “advice” or motivation for many people.