01 Jan Hello 2020!

Today is the last day of 2019. Looking back, I think my theme for this year has been **growth**. I learned about [crucial conversations](https://www.vitalsmarts.com/crucial-conversations-training/). I [searched inside myself](https://siyli.org/). I started meditating. I started [bouldering](https://firstascentclimbing.com/). I picked up a new instrument. I made new friends. I started working at [Chronicle](https://chronicle.security/). Recently I took some time to read through my diary entries since 2011. To me, being able to have these kinds of retrospectives was always the main point of keeping a diary. An interesting thing I noticed was the slight shift in core values. It wasn't a big change -- it was a re-prioritization. I found it fascinating that core values really don't change much, which sounds obvious when you think about what the word "core" means. But considering how much everything else in the world changes... I also noticed a difference in what I wrote about in my diary 9 years ago compared to now. I used to go into a lot of detail about everything, to the point where I'd average more than 10,000 words per month! More recently, I have around 5,000. I guess that's normal, since I have considerably less free time now than I did when I was in school.