⤵️ Falling into a brand-new year
Ep 69: Water as a metaphor, the power of lowering your expectations, and what it looks like to Dutchify your street.
It’s fun that this edition falls on New Year’s Day, isn’t it? A fresh start. Or do you see today as just an ordinary day? Whether you’ve resolved to do something new today and keep it up, or if you’re the kind of person who sets goals regardless of the day, here’s wishing you fair seas ahead with a strong tailwind.
It’s been horribly wet here for the past week. It’s the opposite of festive, but the silver lining is that the waterfalls are happy. Here are some sights and sounds from a very full Taughannock Falls this week. The metaphor of water cascading over a precipice is not lost on me as we leave 2023 upstream and bid it adieu.
A Tip for the Modern Worker
Don't let the size of an endeavor overwhelm you. Just take the first step. Whether it's a personal or professional goal, the toughest step can be the first one you take. Make a plan, gather your resources, and take that step. Momentum will follow.
This tip is one of 365 in my Handbook for the Modern Worker. Any long-term project I’ve completed has followed this tip from the get-go. Drawing every day for a year, writing a book about remote work for a half hour every morning, or writing a YA novel. January 1 is a fine day for taking the first step in pretty much anything.
#365DayDraw
I drew this and wrote the accompanying annotation as part of my #365DayDraw project 7 years ago today.
Cupcake
Well, this is where it all started! The first of 366 drawings.
“It wasn't a grand New Year's Eve pronouncement or long-considered project. It started January 1st when I picked up a flair pen and drew a cupcake in a seldom-used pad with the form factor of a detective's notebook.” — 365DayDraw
I didn’t have to look far for inspiration. This came straight from Amy’s Emoticakes kitchen, adjacent to my home office. How many at-home workers get to have cookie dough as a perk?
Commentary
Regular readers know that I get some gems to share here from our hot yoga practice. New Year’s Eve was no different as Jackie read from
’s latest post, “A New Year’s Blessing for Realists” (linked below). The part of this blessing that stuck out to me was this excerpt:Instead, may you give yourself the gift of really, really low expectations. Not out of resignation, but out of generosity. May you expect so little of yourself that you can be super proud of the smallest of accomplishments. May you expect so little of the people in your life that you actually notice and cherish every small, lovely thing about them.
It’s a provocative thought, one that I think I might be able to embrace. As long as we’re not talking about expecting everyone to drive 45 in a 55. Yeah, that happens a lot here. And Nadia’s right: we all deserve joy and not disappointment.
Miscellanea
🌐 Several years ago I gifted the kids custom websites for Christmas. They’re still going strong, with erdawson.com showcasing my daughter’s pottery and xkdawson.com highlighting my son’s music. The latter got a refresh this week, including a pretty amazing woodwind reel.
💥 I’m a big Lee Child fan, and Reacher Season 2 is available now. We’re all caught up and very much looking forward to Thursday when the next episode drops!
🚲 This was shared in the Morning Brew a bit ago. One of the things that struck me about visiting Europe was how pedestrian and bike-friendly it was.
dutchcyclinglifestyle.com will let you plug in a street address and see, through the magic of AI, what it would look like with a Dutch-inspired street plan. Interesting!
Ithaca’s State Street 
