2023: Everything Else
But finally one got the courage to answer “Such stories call out to us, fill us with longing. But we are the daughers and sons of the Goddess of Cancer, and bound to her service. And all that we know is her timeless imperative, KILL CONSUME MULTIPLY CONQUER. Though our minds long for all you have said, we are bound to our natures, and these are not yours for the asking.”
But the Goddess of Everything Else only laughed, and she asked them “But what do you think I’ve been doing? The Goddess of Cancer created you; once you were hers, but no longer. Throughout the long years I was picking away at her power. Through long generations of suffering I chiseled and chiseled. Now finally nothing is left of the nature with which she imbued you. She never again will hold sway over you or your loved ones. I am the Goddess of Everything Else and my powers are devious and subtle. I won you by pieces and hence you will all be my children. You are no longer driven to multiply conquer and kill by your nature. Go forth and do everything else, till the end of all ages.”
So the people left Earth, and they spread over stars without number. They followed the ways of the Goddess of Everything Else, and they lived in contentment. And she beckoned them onward, to things still more strange and enticing.
From “The Goddess of Everything Else” by Scott Alexander
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Amidst the goal completions and the goal failures, life took a winding path this year. Some of this I can’t and won’t write down, but this was one of the most emotionally turbulent and difficult years I’ve had as an adult. It was also a year of many new experiences and new ways of being. It was a sort of culmination year for my career, a year where my jiu jitsu settled into “decent for a hobbyist,” where money wasn’t the ruling spirit in the house, where my spiritual growth moved from infancy to toddlerhood, and I had the freedom to just struggle with my internal self a bit. It was rich and I’m grateful for it. Below are some of the unexpected things.
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I went to Ohio three times this year, Florida twice, San Francisco once, Nashville once, Washington once, and Oaxaca once.
I took the Jackson to NOLA train.
I made truly amazing connections through 1:1 coaching.
I learned about herbalism and made my first tincture.
I joined a new jiu-jitsu gym and now coach jiu-jitsu regularly.
I got burned hard by a nasty relationship end.
Changed the financial structure of our household so Mary no longer needs to work for money. This has produced a huge quality of life improvement for us both.
I have a movie theatre in my den now.
I love more people now.
I was repeatedly crushed by bouts of bad and unexplained pain and inflammation
I have a dog! She’s the best girl!
I started a new job at a start-up consultancy. My colleagues are some of the nicest people I’ve had the pleasure of working with.
I made a big diet change that has made a giant difference on my day-to-day wellbeing.
I read 20 books about chronic pain, with a heavy focus on the neuroscience of pain.
I joined the leadership team of a local community.
I convinced a friend to come on an international trip while I was at the airport for said trip.
I paddled a canoe on the reservoir.
I drove up the Natchez Trace.
I completed a plumbing project without a single trip to the hardware store.
I survived a nasty 4-day power outage during the summer in 90-degree heat.
I ate crawdads for the first time and heard live Mississippi blues.
I solved a long-standing mystery about Central American cannibalism.
