What to look forward to in 2024

Just like the previous year, I’d like to start the year by pausing for a moment and focusing on what am I working towards. In this post I’ll share with you where all of this is going in the upcoming year, and what direction am I heading in — What am I hoping to build, create, and share with the world. The year 2024 will be anchored by five central themes.

1. Energy and community. When I play a game with my friends and someone wins, the reaction is there. The drops of sweat rolling from someone’s forehead, the passionate fist on the table as a sign of care. When the game is finished, it’s over. The winner takes it all. The one thing I miss while publishing my writings is being able to feed off this energy. Because most of what I do is online, I don’t get to see the people who picked up one of my book recommendations, or cried their eyes out when Tara Westover in Educated left her family for a different life. Because there is a lack of immediate interactiveness, I’ve deeply appreciated the few moments so far, when people reached out and took the time to write me by email to share their thoughts about the books they were reading. Through the newsletters and the community features, I hope to continue to create a meaningful feedback loop.
2. Creativity and craftsmanship. There is a magic that comes from making things. I really believe in being a maker, not just a consumer. Sure, I love sharing cool ideas through my writing, but I also make a point to put them into action. After all, it’s much more exciting to live in the thick of things than just watch from the sidelines. In the upcoming year, I’ll continue to make a small dent in my corner of the universe.
3. Strength and confidence. I believe in living a physical life. It is through sport, competition, and physical pursuit that I have developed confidence in myself and I think that it is important to pursue those areas consistently. Pushing yourself physically reveals what you are made of mentally.
4. Serving others. Regardless of what projects I work on in the future, I hope they will serve others and focus on a cause that is bigger than myself. As my bookshelf of hand-picked book recommendations is a celebration of other people’s contributions to both timeless and timely literature, I recently decided to donate future commissions of the books ordered via my blog to a fund that focuses on making girls’ education possible everywhere. After working up the courage to write publicly, I now believe that writing is among the most fulfilling things I do because it allows me to serve others too.
5. The Tiny Bits newsletter. I’m very excited about the special way I will be ending this newsletter each month in 2024. Together with 10 hand-picked recommendations ranging from books to pieces of literature, I’ll be including portraits of acrylic on linen. Neel Korteweg is a Dutch artist and sculptor, who creates beautiful portraits of both well-known and lesser-known individuals, each with a unique story to tell.

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Thank you for reading. May the year ahead be full of blessings and bring you lots of joy and curiosity. What are you looking forward to in 2024? Stay tuned, or scroll through previous year aheads.