From Burnout to Breakthrough

“Who else lived two completely different years in 2022?” I recently read a tweet to this effect, and it’s definitely true for me. I started out 2022 with the word “breakthrough,” though I didn’t know what it would mean. For the first half of 2022 I felt a more accurate word would have been “stuck.” […]

Captain’s Log 2020

Captain’s Log, Earthdate 30.12.2020. We have almost completed a full revolution around the sun of the Earth’s star system. When we began this mission almost 365 Earth days ago, it seemed routine; hopeful even. There was little indication of the nature of the challenges we would face. In what now retrospectively seems like foreshadowing, I […]

A New Foundation

“If you can’t work out what’s going on, you’re better served by building a better foundation.” -from “12 Rules to Learn to Code” Already a month has passed since the beginning of the new year and the new decade. I am one month removed from Everything That Happened Before, one month into my new story. I […]

A New Story

There is nothing quite like the feeling of a clean blank page brought on by a new year. Make it a new decade, even better. This time at the turning of the year is meant to be a time for reflecting, but I am honestly weary of reflecting on the past. I’m thankful that I […]

Always Forward

It may sound weird for a Canadian to say, but one of the things I have learned this year is not to apologize. I’m not going to apologize for my emotions. If I burst into tears seemingly at random, trust me it is not random. I’m not going to apologize for bypassing the socially acceptable […]

When We Share Our Stories… (A New Year’s Post)

I will not miss 2013. It was a long year, a challenging year, a busy year, and at times a depressing year. At some point, without me noticing, my perspective changed from “Every day is a magical adventure in Japan, challenges are fun!” to “What am I doing wasting my life in this dark and […]