Greetings and happy 2023!
A few years ago I asked a friend what his resolutions were for the coming year. He told me that choosing to silo personal goal setting to December was “arbitrary” and “suboptimal,” insinuating that goals should be set much more frequently than once a year. There was definitely some truth to what he said, although an answer like “running more and eating less sugar” would have also sufficed.
And although I was admittedly taken aback initially by his response, it did get me thinking. I have spent the last few years trying to adopt his philosophy of fluid and continuous striving.
That being said, I’ll always be a sucker for a good ole arbitrary new years resolution.
Weekly Musings began as a resolution at the end of 2019. I vowed to blast out an email every Monday morning to anyone kind enough (and foolish enough) to subscribe and read it. Since that fateful Monday morning in January, I have gone 156 weeks straight without missing a publication. I have shared many stories, quotes, facts, pictures, and musings (amongst other things).
Looking back, my first publication feels like both a lifetime ago and yesterday, all at the same time. I won’t bore you with any more of my thoughts on time (for now). I will however say that the last three years have been equal parts wonderful and strange. I am very grateful that my friend Jordan encouraged me to document my journey in a weekly newsletter. I now have 156 time capsules in case future Jarred (or any other curious citizen of the internet) is ever wondering what song May 2021 Jarred had on repeat or what quote July 2022 Jarred was pondering.
I have gotten a lot out of writing Weekly Musings over the years. But as 2022 began winding to a close, I couldn’t shake something my Econ 201 professor had once told the class (in an attempt to convince us that economic theory held real value and utility beyond the classroom). It was along the lines of “make sure to constantly assess the things in your lives for diminishing marginal returns.” And while I’m sure college sophomore Jarred had his own thoughts on someone telling him to treat his life as an optimization problem, it is one of the (few) things that stuck with him (me) from the college classroom.
I’ve recently decided that life would be a lot easier if our hopes, dreams, preferences, and perspectives weren’t constantly evolving. I’ve also decided (even more recently) that wanting things to be easier is a waste of time. As I have evolved over the past three years (along with my preferences and perspectives) I have been forced to reckon with many things. One of those things is that Weekly Musings in its current form is no longer bringing me the same level of utility and satisfaction it once was.
So in the spirit of (somewhat) arbitrary New Year’s resolutions, I have decided to repurpose this platform. I want to focus less on aggregating my favorite tidbits from the weeks and more on deeply exploring ideas I find to be interesting. I want to spend more time getting metaphorical with the metaphysical.
I’m not going to commit to any sort of regimented publishing schedule. I do my best writing when I’m inspired and (unfortunately) inspiration isn’t linear.
Thank you all for your dedicated readership over the years. I am excited to share more long-form musings every sometimes over the months and years to come.
I’m not sure when the next one will be ready, but make sure to keep an eye on your inbox.
Until then,
Jarred