First Post of 2024.2
It's true.
I was going to send a post in the first week of January 2024. I tried to keep a cadence of two posts per month in 2023 and it was going OK until December. However, December was a very hard month to plough through... and it didn't go well. Neither did November, October, September, August, July or June.
Since last May, I wanted to take a break. And just do nothing. However, I wasn't able to for 7 months. Client issues, Turkish economy and politics, personal and family health issues, ongoing wars, trying to buy a house... all piled up. I was able to stop work at times, but my mind didn't rest. So I was looking forward to a big pause during the New Year break.
And that didn't happen either.
The new year holiday is the most meaningful holiday for me. It is a global event. It has elements of multiple faiths. I live in the Mediterranean climate, so we get a mild, quiet winter. It is a very nice time to pause.
Everything that was chasing me (or that I was chasing) rambled over my long-awaited, precious New Year break in 2023. I felt broken on January 1st. Mostly because I was so looking forward to getting the rest I wanted for many months. I didn't shed any of the physical and emotional fatigue I was hoping to get rid of. I didn't want to do many things I enjoyed, including composing this newsletter.
So I made a decision to protect and multiply the joy that I get from New Year breaks. I decided to celebrate three New Years every year. They are set apart roughly 3-4 months. I named them with numbers: .1, .2 and .3. The .3 is the New Year break that everybody gets at the end of the year. I get to decide when .1 and .2 is every year. I will try to align them with other public holidays, so that I can enjoy the stillness of a collective lull. (I am inclined to call this system the Hellurian calendar 🤭)
For 2024, 2024.1 was between January and April to align with the long Eid break. I was FINALLY able to pause work, spend time with family and just enjoy cooking. We had water damage and electrical issues we needed to deal with, but at least it was quiet and we had neither a schedule nor a todo list.
In the coming months I will share how this calendar change makes me feel, how it affects my relationships and my health. Happy 2024.2! 🫶🥘👟
From LinkedIn: Where is design going?
After 10 days of rest, I caught up with my LinkedIn stream. I am very glad that the algorithm surfaced meaningful discussions about where design is going.