As the year changed from 2012 to 2013, the main thing I hoped for 2013 was that it be less eventful than 2012, when I bought a house, moved, joined households with a new bunch of people, and got major new responsibilities in my job. Although 2013 was eventful and difficult for many people around me, in my life, I got pretty much what I wanted. Not too much that was big changed. It was a year of settling in, firming up, solidifying.

So, unsurprisingly, I'm hoping for more than that from 2014. The word I keep coming to is "level up". I'm not sure what exactly I want to level up in (though, of course, everything, right?), but that having had a year of relative stillness, I want to test those roots and foundations I spent last year working on and see if I can grow into more this year. As I think about it, I can see ways that I can do this at work, in my relationships, at home, and in the world. I feel hopeful that I can move myself this way!

In the spirit of this, Vienna Teng's "Level Up":