It is hard to recap a year full of excitements, and full of turmoils, but since it is tradition, I shall do it anyway.
From the macro perspective, the world is fucked. There were a lot of challenges in the software world. Layoff. AI anxiety. Elon going full right-wing mode. Wars. Terrorism. Record heat waves. Warm dry winter. The revival and rise of Fascism in the Western world. Alerbta voted for the anti-vax, anti-health, anti-education, anti-trans government. This underscore a sense of hopelessness, restlessness, and ongoing anxiety on my mental health. I also got (physically) sick a lot. This makes the space I have for personal challenges become smaller. But this makes little moments of personal joy that much more potent, more important, and all together, more precious.
This year, I get to spend time with some of the most important people in my life. I am grateful for my life, and for all the moving and travels that I did. However, that just means it’s harder for me to be close to the people I love. So, this year, I am thankful for the time I get to spend with all my friends. I celebrated 20-year anniversary of friendship with Kelly in Geneva. I made plans with JE for our 20th friend-niversary. I got to see Marcus in NYC. We make plans to see friends in Vietnam in 2024.
This year, I travel. Dan and I went to NYC in June (first time for Dan). I went to Switzerland and Greece. We travel in Canada. In a world that is both interconnected and increasingly isolated (see geopolitical condition above), it was great to be out in the world again post-pandemic. It was nice to see old sights and new wonders. I was nice to bathe in the water, walk onthe mountains, and see the sun slowly rising on a clear cloudless sky of the ocean. I was nice to be in familiar cities, to figure out a new transit system, and to speak broken French to German speaking Swiss.
This year, I was resilient. I know. It shouldn’t be an achievement. We shouldn’t face adversary just so we can prove that we are resilient. But we have to. Chester finally got his Permanent residency. Months of anxiety, lawyers fee, and hard work later. Just because some immigration officer decided that a Vietnamese immigrant with a Vietnamese name shouldn’t be qualified to do the work he was doing, during and after the pandemic.
This year, I find joy in doing the things I enjoy. There was a lot of gardening. There was painting and the arts. There was a lot of musicals and theater. There was recreational volleyball. There was swimming and sun tanning and hiking and outdoor things. There was a lot of board games nights. There was cocktail making and hot pot and Asian cooking. It seems mundane. But I feel like this year, I have mastered the art of finding happiness in the mundane.
And, just as the year ends, we adopted Mochi. We’ve been talking about it, but it happened so quickly it took us by surprise. What she signifies, for us, at least for me, is the transition of the future we thought we wanted (having human children) into a future that is different (those dog dad gays) and yet promising to be just as costly, just as unexpected, and just as joyful.
So, 2023 has come to (almost) a close. I’m still working today on a last minute contract. 2024 promises a lot of changes, challenges, and even more uncertainty. But if I have learned anything, especially since 2020, is that you can never expect anything in life. Yet, in all the fucked-up-ness of the world, I am grateful to still be here, to be surrounded by love and loved one.
So my new year resolution for 2024 will just be this. I want to love, love with all that I am able. I want to receive, and give, love in all their forms and all their capacity. A gift. A compliment. A hug. A nod. A board game night. A class of wine. A cocktail. A meal. Any gifts of love from family, and friends, and the universe, I will be grateful for it.
And I will be ready to receive it.
Pace Fine Arts 