~/diary/The year of Nesting
Updated Jan 2, 2026

🖊 The year of Nesting Wednesday, Dec 31, 2025

While I am still enjoying living in a smaller town in a rural area, the challenges of maintaining a (very small) piece of land have weighted on me this year.

On the professional side, is the first year I’ve abandoned the freelance path and went back to being a full-time employee. I have stayed away from the big corporations that would be the most natural (and remunerative) employers, and opted to work for startups. I don’t miss the feeling of being a small cog in a giant machine. Smaller companies offer a greater sense of agency and impact, but there is a price to pay in terms of chaos and uncertainty. I love the people I work with, I think we have a great product, and I feel appreciated. I don’t know what more I would want.

Compared to previous years, I’ve cut down quite significantly on social gatherings of the party kind. I still love dancing and making friends but I’ve been feeling less inclined towards these activities. Maybe it’s just a phase, maybe it’s a matter of age. Maybe my social batteries are just lower due to an increase in traveling for work and for leisure.

During this year I’ve let got of a few habits that I want to bring back in 2026:

The first is my “happy memories” journal: I know I’ve had some really great moments this year, but most of them are forgotten because I didn’t write them down. Looking back at these never fails to boost my spirit.

The second one is weekly planning (of non-work activities). Looking at an ever-growing list of things I should do can be daunting, and that’s why I avoided it. But not having such a list creates constant stress, which is net worse.

The third is spending time on learning (outside of my professional domain), lecture series are increasingly hard to find on the internet, but they are out there. Putting in time to find and watch them is absolutely worth the effort.

Highlights:

A trip to Japan I’ve been dreaming of my entire life, for my 40th birthday.

Setting up a base near my family & birthplace.

A new job that still feels like the job of my dreams 6 months in.

Going back to playa with an old friend.

4 amazing weddings!

Assorted memorable moments: R.S. on the USS Hornet; Carps in the pond; River adventure with K&M; Exploratorium w/ D; Boat Day; Isle of Skye, Lisbon w/ K&B; Golfing in the hail; BugBash; Chainsaw;

Notable quotes:

There are some things you can only learn in a storm

(seen on a restaurant wall – credited to a televangelist I will not name)

Every augmentation is also an amputation

Marshall McLuhan via Neal Stephenson