Almost end of the year: a time to reflect on the past year and the coming year.

2023 was for me a year in which I had to learn to adapt after the corona period of the two years before. Where before I was fortunate to work one day per week at home, and the rest in the office, now it’s opposite and I work one day in the office. Not all my colleagues are the same day in the office, so it can take a few weeks to meet some one unless I make a conscious effort to meet him/her.

I am no longer used to crowds and feel myself hesitant to join them, it’s no longer second nature to shut out the cacophony of noises and smells. So I make a more conscious choice if I want that or not. 

The two examples show that it there is more awareness and I think more about things that seemed ‘normal’ before. In the Netherlands there was a lot of discussions about the new normal and apparently I have soaked up some of that. Is it better than before, or not? 

I think it’s a good question to reflect on. So I leave this to you (the reader of this piece). For me I get inspiration from a song of Talk Talk: Life is what you make it. Spotify tells me it is also the song that I listened to the most in 2023, so I will share here a few lines of the lyrics.

“ Baby, life’s what you make it
Celebrate it, anticipate it
Yesterday’s faded
Nothing can change it
Life’s what you make it”

Merry Xmas every one and a Happy New Year!