As we close a difficult year, take personal stock.
I have an enduring interest in the place where nature and culture meet, that is, the transformation of chaos to order. I feel comfortable in the transition of idea to action, and am grateful for the experience.
My vocation as an executive producer suits me because dreaming about potential happens continuously, from pre-market research to pitching new business to crafting an exciting deal to continuous delivery.
I’ve had a curious attraction to stairways and doors during my travels. They fascinate me, especially stairs with a turn up around a corner or into a basement door. I can’t help but wonder, where do those stairs lead? What’s up there? What’s behind that door. I’m susceptible to the allure and potential, the secrets and possibilities.
One of my all-time favorite travel books is Stairway Walks in Los Angeles. It fits nicely into my pocket, and served as a guide for some of my earliest dates with my wife, April. Many Saturday mornings, we hiked the neighborhoods of Los Feliz, Silverlake and Santa Monica.
We moved into a small bungalow at Linai Apartments at the crest of a hill South Pasadena above Foothill Blvd, the old Route 66. I loved driving up and down the winding roads to and and from home lined with lush foliage and tall palms. I could never quite see around the bends, that perfect moment of anticipation between nothing and something.
As the end of 2020 draws near, I’ve been reflecting on what the new year will bring. The fear of a pandemic may be turning toward the hope for a vaccine. The pendulum of civil discourse in the US and the UK is swinging in a new direction.
I sense a liminal period where exasperated people are keen to move away from the status quo. But to whom? And to where?
Ultimately, these are personal questions each of us must ponder. Take the time you need to imagine how you’d like the new year to shape up for you. What can you learn? What can you imagine and create? What do you need to move forward?
Feature image is Destruction in the Course of Empire series by Thomas Cole (1833-36) depicting the rise and fall of civilization. I highly recommend the Dallas-based band by the same name. They are talented friends from the 1990s who I knew during another period of transformation. Ptah is a personal favorite song while contemplating Cole’s work that inspired their self-titled debut album .