Reflection time again 2016
A ritual is something that can elevate the profane into a sublime. That’s why e.g. the 365 days of our everyday routines feel somehow more meaningful on a New Years Day. Every year I write and publish a short summary of the previous 12 months, something I can greatly encourage you to do as well. Savor your days. Especially when it’s all not that easy and sunshine.
Last year I learned to appreciate the simple things. One of the reasons for that was the relative poverty we found ourselves in. Often a taboo topic among friends and the startup crowd, but a much more common reality than you would think of.
I looked at trees a lot. I took care of my plants, gathering seeds in the parks and the fields with my youngest daughter, in hope to plant them some day. Maybe in 2017.
Our daughters are growing even faster than before, it seems. Lia can play guitar already times better than I ever did. And she’s the only one in the family who can read notes! Our youngest, in the meantime, became addicted to Where the Wild Things Are which she can re-tell with admirable precision for a 3 year old.
I traveled to Paernu in Estonia for a day, where I was invited to share my life story with a crowd of interesting people from a completely different world than mine. I was in Dublin for the first time where I met a couple of real soul mates from Italia.
I have accompanied my daughter Lia to Harry Potter Studios and was blown away by the amazing craft and dedication of the film creators. We enjoyed the hospitality of our friends, which we tested even further by arriving to a wrong airport for our flight back and calling them to save us. Everything ended up nice, especially because Lia is such a hero.
I watched the tide rising on the beach near Glasgow, seeing the mystical figures by Antony Gormley dissapearing into the waves. I looked at the paintings of Francis Bacon and had a feeling they were looking back at me.
Sadness and death. I lost my dearest friend. Several close people are fighting their battles with illness. My grandmas heart has stopped for a minute, and she was very angry at the doctors for bring her back to life.
I accidentally learned to ride my daughters’ longboard during our Easter weekend. It’s a very liberating experience.
In 2015, I went to the worlds biggest Toy Fair just as a visitor and this year we were featured on the innovation stage. Last year I visited Children’s Media Conference as a visitor, this year I was telling there about our design process. I spoke at the Tech Open Air conference about kids and AI. We did a keynote at the Thingscon. We get to know people, people get to know us.
We assembled hundreds of toys in our workshop out of thousands of parts. They arrived from the forests of Poland, from electronics factories, from our friend Martin’s laser workshop and the best materials store in the world which is just around a corner. We were working together day and night—Justyna and I, my wife Dalia and her sister Inga, our friends, even my daughters. We shipped packages with the little dolls just in time for Christmas, to more than 30 countries, on all continents (except Antarctica, yet). It was a good feeling.
I watched Antonioni a lot, re-watched my favorite Cocteau film and the Grande Bellezza too many times. Dived into the work of Denis Villeneuve and Xavier Dolan. Got hypnotized by the genius of Dudley Young. I discovered the world of Jodorowsky’s comics and they are amazing.
I couldn’t afford to travel for fun so much, but we still had a couple beautiful days — an afternoon in Leipzig proved that there’s lots to discover close by. Watching the sunset for a few days at the house in the fields of Dzukija. We went to Spreewald with Dalia, paddling slowly through the calm channels. I didn’t really celebrate my birthday this year. Somehow wasn’t in the mood.
I started teaching. My students are a bunch of young talented people from around the world. I plan to share with them some of the shortcuts I’ve dicovered over the last couple decades, I hope they will waste less time than I did, and they’ll focus on the important things right away.
I gave up wine, beer and cocktails for 3 months. I enjoyed that for 8 weeks and then regretted for the next 4. It seems that we the Northern/Eastern Europeans are not build for abstinence as we become way too serious and grumpy when dry. The first cocktail I mixed after these 12 weeks was the tastiest I ever had.
Our home was my refuge where I could escape from the pressures of the world for a while. But I think I need to work on building a refuge inside of me first. I wish you the same.
