As part of my year-end review, I wrote an essay About What Matters. I looked back on what mattered to me at various stages in my life. I looked at what matters to me now as we transition from one year to the next.
Looking back at 2023, in many ways it did not go as planned. However, life not going as planned seems to be the new normal. Big things happen that are unexpected. On December 31, 2022 I did not see how developments in AI would impact the world, yet that became a significant area of focus for me in 2023. And it seems to me that we have only seen the tip of the iceberg. I hope to write an essay soon and say a lot more About AI.
Unexpectedly, my journey with Emergent Commons ended and I have told that story in detail with many valuable lessons learned.
Unexpectedly, a new online group emerged from Emergent Commons. I am part of this initiative and excited about its potential. That is another story to be told at another time.
Financially, 2023 did not go as planned and I have written an article about My Financial Situation.
Unexpectedly, my best friend, David Bryen, died and all I can do now is celebrate his life as best I can and hold the sadness of loss. At the time I learned of David's terminal diagnosis early in 2023, I already had three other friends with cancer. We followed one of those stories which is in the public domain, the amazing story of Larry Barnhardt.
And as I do every year, I recognized the life and death of people that held some significance for me as captured on my website with 2023 - In Memoriam.
But overall, I look back on 2023 with a heart filled with gratitude. I am grateful that my wife and I remain in good health, which as seniors we do not take for granted. I am grateful that there was no nuclear WWIII, but I am aware that the risk remains high. Likewise, I am grateful that there was no major global financial collapse, but I am aware that the risk remains high. I am grateful for my IRL and online friends and the many good meetings we had in 2023.
I am grateful that Pat and I were able to quietly celebrate our special occasion with a three night getaway in Guadalajara.
I am grateful that my mother is still alive at 104 and in remarkably good physical and mental health.
I am grateful that I can still enjoy running, which I continue to do about twice per week, feeling strong. However, the year did not go as planned in this department. There were two lengthy periods during which our treadmill was down for repairs.
I am grateful that my desire to write remains alive and that I unexpectedly found a new opportunity for expressing myself this way. On October 29, 2023 I launched Metamodern Wannabes on Substack. By the end of 2023 I had already made 31 Posts.
I continued to write Essays and added 10 to my website in 2023.
I read fewer books than usual in 2023. However, I read and reported on four during the year, all very meaningful. I read one Ajijic Book Club selection, attended one meeting and led the discussion, probably my last ABC experience as this initiative, which I started in 2016, fades away.
In 2023 I began building My Personal AI, an unplanned, unforeseeable new activity. I hope to proceed in 2024 but I do not want to do this alone. My efforts to find a co-creator in 2023 were unsuccessful with no response to the following invitation issued in various places.
I am looking for one person to join me as a co-creator in a project. Someone somewhere in the WeSpace would probably be a good candidate. Probably a retiree like me. Someone with two or three hours per week available for an extended period of time. Someone interested in telling and sharing their life story in detail. Someone not afraid of AI.
I am currently building My Personal AI and am looking for someone to join me in telling our stories in that space. My goal is to train my AI to be at least 90% like the real me. Eventually I want to put My Personal AI to good use. I have opened up a Substack account, Metamodern Wannabes, and hope to use My Personal AI to engage with my readers. If this works, that will enable me to scale.
I have another potential project that I have been working on for several years. It did not launch in 2023 but the idea will not fade away. Looking Forward to 2024, perhaps this will be the year, perhaps not.
We are looking forward to two visitors in 2024, the same as 2023, our friend Irene and my sister Nikki.
In February, 2023 I asked Pat and Nikki, “Do you feel the floor trembling?” No, they both replied. Strange, I thought, because I sure could, albeit only very slightly. The feeling persisted and became a regular occurrence.
I developed peripheral neuropathy in my feet in 2023. I also occasionally have the same sensation in my hip while lying in bed. My doctor advised me to take a Vitamin B supplement which I now do, at least when I remember, and it does seem to help. I am grateful that the condition does not seem to be progressing, not causing any impairment at this time. However, I am also mindful of a good friend in Calgary who has a serious nerve disease. When I visited him in 2019 he told me that he would soon need to move to a supported living facility. My friend does not keep in touch and I wonder how he is doing.
We are not looking forward to facing something in 2024 that our circumstances necessitate. The time has come to write the last chapter of My Great Mexican Misadventure. We will begin scouting for a new place to live. In 2024 we will be preparing to move, preparing to probably downsize. I have “stuff” to get rid of, a task that I find difficult.
All things considered, 2023 was a good year for me but not as good as the three prior years. The challenges were greater and that had some impact on my mental health, nothing serious. But I also had a new experience, moments that I can best describe as weepy joy. Sometimes, for very short periods of time and for no apparent reason, I feel joy that is almost overwhelming to the point of tears. In 2023 I witnessed something similar but of much greater magnitude in one of my online friends. For the first time, I am beginning to understand from experience what Hanzi Freinacht and others are talking about when they describe higher states of subjective well-being.
As I look forward to 2024, I wonder what significant event will impact the world that I do not foresee at the end of 2023. I am now expecting the unexpected. It would not shock me if someone other than Donald Trump or Joe Biden becomes President of the United States. It would not shock me if we see the use of nuclear bombs in warfare. It would not shock me if we have another financial crisis similar in magnitude to the Great Recession. It would not shock me if we see significant impact from AI generated deep fakes. It would not shock me if we have another pandemic. Of course, I want none of these things. But what would shock me in 2024? Hopefully nothing. Contact by a superintelligent alien civilization is the most shocking development that I can imagine.
After being OverWhelmed in 2023, my theme for 2024 is Focus, Focus, Focus. One thing I want to focus on is staying calm as the metacrisis escalates. A line from a 1980s rock song remains my theme: “It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine).”