It’s been a long, strange year.
I plan to spend from now until January reflecting on 2021, a practice I began in earnest a few years back. What did I accomplish and how does that stack up against my goals twelve months ago? Like always, there will be some big misses, some nice surprises, and a handful of things I got just right. Spoiler alert: Bare Naked English and the Red Hook 100 did not happen.
Much of that time will focus on my writing, which I’ve struggled to fit into post-COVID days that look much different than they did when I began back in 2020. In particular, I’ll spend some time dissecting what these weekly emails are all about. Last January I wrote What’s This Newsletter Anyway?, but my answer was essentially a shrug. I wasn’t really sure what I was doing, and I wasn’t too pressed to find out.
Now another year has passed. This week marks my 82nd email, and I’m feeling a bit more pressure to identify what it is I’m doing here. Not specifically to grow the newsletter, but to be able to say “here’s what I stand for and here’s why you should read my emails.” Kind of amazing I’ve lasted this long without a clear answer to that question.
I hope you’ve found this past year’s writing useful in some way. If not, there are no hard feelings in unsubscribing. One thing I’ve become certain of since I started sending out these emails is that I get as much out of writing them as I hope you get out of reading them. Even without an audience, I’d still put pen to paper and send something out into the ether. It’s cathartic.
If you have gotten something from these emails, here is my request for you as we wrap up 2021: Tell me what you like about them.
- What makes you open an email from me?
- Which emails have you enjoyed the most?
- What would you like to see more of?
If you’ve got the time, you can catch up on pieces you’ve missed, or re-read ones you particularly enjoyed, here.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
– Emmett
One More Thing:
I found these four pictures on my phone, of the same wall at different points throughout 2021. The F train staircase at 2nd Ave and Houston St for anyone who’s interested in checking it out.
