Fear of letting people down is a hell of a way to move through the world. While drinking my morning coffee at my desk in the dark, I stumbled across something I'd written about that last year.
I'd been reading a piece by Linda Caroll and she mentioned that "gift-guide" was a trending term right now. She'd expressed surprise by this (as did I) since, well... the whole internet seems like it flogs you with new things to buy non-stop. That, and the fact that AI can probably spin up plenty of options for most any "gift-guide" you could think of.
But thinking about all of that made me go looking for this.
I remembered putting it together but I hadn't quite remembered the pre-amble I'd included. 2024 me sounded pretty good, I thought. All things considered. Reading it this morning, I actually did one of those raised-eyebrows "hmmm" faces—the one that kinda says "well, alright...how bout that?"
Not bad.
2025 me could learn a few things from that guy.
Maybe in 2026, he will.
When's the last time you came across your old work and regarded it with kindness rather than scrutiny?
onward.
Help BUDS grow by passing this along to someone who’d appreciate it. Oh, and if something clicked for you while reading, hit reply and tell me what it was.