On the subject of finish lines
Oh, hi friends!
There have been very few finish lines this year.
In the literal sense, if you trained for a marathon, there was no tape to run through. You might run it on your own, marking the miles and adding them up, but the official, race-sponsored finish line? That will have to wait.
The same with graduations, culminations, birthdays, death. If you moved cities or quit your job, you probably didn’t have a goodbye party. Not in the way you would have before. No finish line. No shared celebration or commiseration. That might be why it all feels like suspended animation, like we’re frozen in amber. We hang, waiting.
Until, perhaps, now.
The end of the year is the one thing we all get to share. No parties — but who cares about the parties anyway. We are getting a definitive end. A chance. The end of the year is always a powerful moment of reflection, but now, more than ever, it’s the one line we all get to cross, together.
There is no going back, even if you wanted to. That’s a good thing.
You get to finish something, finally, thankfully.
And you get to move forward.
“I think the point of doing something is being able to ask afterwards: ‘What did you learn from it?' You learn more when things don’t go correctly.”
I learned a lot from interviewing the astronomer Erika Hamden for my new TED Ideas piece on how to move on after failure and rebuild your confidence.
As I think back on this year, I can track accomplishments and failures, but with that simple question — what did I learn? — a clear picture emerges. What to find more of, less of. What felt worth trying, abandoning, or keeping. What we can leave behind in 2020, what can emerge from next year. All from a single question.
We’ve learned so much.
The Sweet and Quirky Show You Need Right Now
After burrowing through The Crown (and The Queen, Peter Morgan’s film with Helen Mirren, which I also recommend!!), we tuned into a new show, The Durrells in Corfu. Brass Ring reader Tim M. gently suggested I try watching the show — twice! — because it’s kindhearted and sweet and has lots of animals. (Did you know I like animals?) Finally took his advice and I love it!
Don’t let the frankly terrible name fool you; it’s about a family in 1930s England who decamps to the island of Corfu and…well, don’t let my dry summary fool you either. It’s got a crackling sense of humor and vivid characters and great actors, including Josh O’Connor, aka PRINCE CHARLES from The Crown. The perfect uplifting holiday treat. You are welcome, friends. Streaming on Amazon Prime.
Do you like these daily emails? Please share with a friend!
You can also support my work by checking out my new motivational journal, Do It For Yourself, designed to guide you through your creative and work projects.
Thanks, as always, for reading.
Love, Kara