Ten years ago, my wife and I left a party to celebrate the rushing in of the year 2000 early so we could be alone together. It felt like a reflective, personal time and we wanted to spend it quietly.
At the time, we were living in Seattle, and I had completed a feature film several months earlier. By December 31st I knew I had not gotten into Sundance and was starting to grapple with questions about whether I would make it as a filmmaker. I was leaving my twenties behind, and sensed that major changes were coming.
I was filled with optimism about the changing of the millennium.
Now, ten years later, my life is very different: I moved deeper into web work, left filmmaking behind, moved to LA, did some extremely interesting work and met some amazing people, decided to move back home to Vancouver, had a son, and landed at Vancity where I found a new home for myself professionally.
Now, as we are about to enter the Twenty-Teens, my wife and I are once again in a reflective frame of mind, thinking about the last ten years and what our forties will have in store for us. We will spend a quiet New Year’s in our new home with our son, looking out from an entirely different vantage point.
And I’m thinking a lot about goals. When the next ten years have come and gone, what do I want to have accomplished? What will our life look like?
I’m not a long term planner. I believe in having a sense of what I want to do in the long run, having some good short term goals and letting the chips fall where they may. I never would have predicted where I would be at 39 when, ten years ago, we were watching the fireworks over Lake Union from our kitchen window, and yet I’m happy and satisfied with where I am. I don’t want to make some huge long-term plan, but it’s a good time to reset my thinking, validate my assumptions, and put some energy into where I’d like to be when I’m watching the fireworks ushering in 2020 and thinking about turning the big Five-Oh.
So this isn’t a post with any answers, or any deep thoughts, just a small piece of reflection on a process of making sure I’m on the right path. I’m still optimistic, but a little more cautious, a little more skeptical perhaps than I was at 29, but with a sense of real purpose and place now that I didn’t have then. So bring on 2010, and all that will follow. Thanks for reading, and joining me on this journey. It means a lot to me.
Ha! I almost bought apple stock 1 yr ago when they were at $90. Now @ $200! Oh well…maybe i'll buy if the ipad bombs.
Tiven, if you're a decade behind, I have some advice. Buy Apple stock, believe it or not, they really turn themselves around…
Wm
it's kinda eerie being a decade behind you….
Thanks Alison, happy new year!
What a thoughtful post, William. It's made me think about where I was 10 years ago (not yet at Vancity, but working very hard to get there — my efforts were rewarded a few months later). S + I had been together for nearly a year, and were facing a couple of hurdles that can be part of an intercultural relationship.
I realize now how fitting it is that I chose now to embark on a new career journey.
I learned a lot in my decade with VC, made some very good friends, had many many great times, a few not-so-good ones. Despite a few "downs", it became a very comfortable environment. But maybe one in which I no longer offered a fresh perspective.
Like you, I'm not great at thinking 10 years down the road in great detail, but I can look to the year ahead with relish — about tackling a new environment in which I will learn lots and hopefully also make a meaningful contribution.
I hope that when the next decade ends, I can look back in the same way.
Happy New Year — and I will connect with you in '10.
Alison A.
@Matt, You are too kind. Happy New Year to you too, my friend!
@Denise, Partying with the Governor sounds good. Thanks for the comment and story.
@Jeremy, Looking forward to Good Energy doing some good things in 2010.
William – I'm with Matt. You're an inspiration. Keep up the great work. I've no doubt the 2010's have big things in store.
Whether you realize it or not, William, you have been a huge inspiration to me over the 3-4 years I've "known" you. If your next ten years are as productive as your previous ten, I expect big things out of you. I'll hold you accountable if you do the same for me.
Happy New Year!