Here’s a copy of the post I made recently on the Austin Kleon Substack.
Happy new year to you, and thank you for reading. You give me joy.
Anon.
R
********************************
What Worked for me this year?
Well, I had a birthday. I turned 78 years old. And I have now, somewhat suddenly, developed an acute awareness of death.
Yes, we all know it’s going to happen. But this year, it’s like suddenly—wow—there it is: right there in the rearview mirror. (And like Steve Goodman said, “If you duck down I can see a little clearer.”)
I look around me, and there are all these things I want to do; that I still feel I need to do. Some of the material could really help a lot of people. I need to improve it a little and do more to “get it out there.” There is work I want to do just for myself, maybe just to say I did it, and I can hope it will be interesting to a few other people besides.
And there are songs to be sung. There are dances to be called, danced, and even sung. There’s the new space that’s been created for one of the world’s most inspirational bliss stations. (The backstory on that: when you’re old, it seems like you’re supposed to move somewhere. When we went over all the options we decided we liked it best right where we were, so we’re “fixin’ up the place” and settling in for the duration. But man, there’s a lot of work involved in that, and a lot more left to go.)
I re-listened to the Steal Like an Artist Trilogy again. I’m focusing on Keep Going mostly, right now, but everything remains applicable. I’m particularly moved by the passages around the idea of an “8 over 80” list.
Is it unseemly to feel competitive about trying to make it on a list like that?
Dunno. I hope Austin won’t hold it against me.
But yikes! Time’s a’wasting.