I love my job. A good thing too, or I would not be doing it seven years and one pandemic later; it is not easy but the challenge of it is part of what makes it pleasurable. In the last six years I’ve learned so much about decolonization, conflict, and brain development; feeling my feelings, starting with joy but also including my fear, anger, disappointment, and grief; drawing, painting, carving, creating perspective; having this body, feeding and moving it; minecraft, math, and music; being in community; being in relationship; saying exactly the thing I mean as succinctly as possible; holding difficult things lightly; what a well-rounded D&D campaign feels like; what liberation could look like. I’ve learned that learning is pleasure-full, in practice.

This year, I intend…

…to homebrew a D&D campaign with minimum prep, and trust my players as collaborators.

…to play! For the joy of it!

…to say yes when young people ask me to try something with them.

…to resist the urge to speak over someone when they’re trying to explain what they notice or how they feel about something and I think I know the conclusion that they’re working towards and I’m feeling impatient with how long it takes them to say it.

…to push my fear-edge in rock climbing, outside and inside, and improve my stamina.

…to find new ways to support young people documenting their learning.

…to fundraise for our 10th year and for the next decade.

…to use the marketing skills I absolutely have to help facilitate our increased visibility and, with it, fundraising.

…to play capitalism with the creativity, flexibility, and vision that I bring to the other games I play.

…to play music on ukulele and keyboard.

…to play art with fiber, paint, charcoal, and pen.

…to try NatNoWriMo again!

There’s always more and never enough time — here’s to seven years of making magic!