Reviewing 2022.
Releasing Gibbon: Beyond the Trees in January had a big impact on the rest of my year, as I went on a professional hiatus afterwards. I dramatically cut my working hours at Broken Rules, giving myself space to figure out what comes next. Since then, I've been a happy houseman, maintaining the household and spending a lot of time in the kitchen, cooking, baking and fermenting. I was able to devote more time to family matters, supporting my son and wife in their developments and projects as well as simply enjoying each other's company.
I continued to practice Kung Fu, but stopped going to the dojo often in the second semester. I managed to keep a meditation routine of at least three sessions per week.
Even though there was a lot going on, I perceived the year as much less packed and stressful than previous years and I appreciated the slower tempo. It's been really good to visit my parents for a whole month - I didn't realize how much I missed them. Even though at odds with my ecological values, we might visit them again in 2023.
Covid has slowed down our plans for the house. We haven't started building yet, but the plans are ready for submission. I'm glad we aren't in a hurry, but we're keeping our fingers crossed for 2023.
Projects
- Released Gibbon: Beyond the Trees on Apple Arcade, PC and Switch with Broken Rules.
- Rebuilt Broken Rules website generator in C.
- Rebuilt Broken Rules presskits generator in C.
- Released memoir, a photo album generator.
- Released tootpic, a script to quickly upload optimised images to Mastodon.
- Released scim to simplify scanning images from the command line.
- Built various workshop projects.
- Built a loftbed for AA.
- Illustrated uxn notes.
- Started working on an illustration series.
- Revised rasputin.
- Created a silly little spelunky comic.
- Created a spooky rally for AA's birthday.
- Invested in three ecological businesses/projects and bought an apartment in Graz, Austria.
- Quit Ochsenherz to focus on Ouvertura.
Personal Highlights
- Visited my parents on Big Island, Hawai'i.
- Participated in a sailing trip.
- Participated in the Merveilles Europe Meetup.
- Participated in a forest retreat.
- Participated in a sweat lodge.
- Gibbon received the Apple Design Award 2022 in the category Social Impact.
- Presented Gibbon live on national Japanese TV station NHK at Japan Prize.
- First bike trip with AA.
- AA learned ice-skating.
- Introduced AA to Moomins, Erwin Moser and the original Winnie the Pooh.
- A finished her coaching diploma (LSB).
- Forgot my guitar on the train and found it again in Breclav, Czech Republic.
- Rode a solar powered submarine in the bay of Kona, Hawai'i.
- Learned to play three new songs on the guitar and improved improvisation skills.
- Went to my first large concert in years (Bonobo).
- Fully embraced open source software in daily use.
- Read 18 books.
- Watched 19 movies.
- Played a lot of Stardew Valley with AA.
Travels
Personal Lessons
- Thoughts create reality. Letting go of negativity in the mind creates space for positivity in real life.
- Changing thought patterns is difficult, sometimes overwhelmingly so. Yet, the potential is always present.
- Individual change can only ever be a part of the solution for systemic change.
- Personal values are guidelines, not spectres of punishment. Don't let your values create unhappiness.
- I may enjoy my priviliges without shame or guilt, but with humility, awareness, and dignity.
- My priviliges empower me to work towards positive change.
- Some things can change like a flip of a switch, others come only gradually through patience and discipline.
- I can change noone but myself.
- Renunciation can be a sensuous experience.
- Effective altruism is an individual concept based on available options.