I wanted to start this year-end reflective post on an optimistic, anticipatory tone. This year has been a whirlwind even beyond the typical subjects of politics or the virus. Everything feels like it was pulled up and shaken loose. In my personal life I bought my first house, and I lost family members. Between the stress, sadness, and challenges, one word I could use to describe my own life this year is “overwhelmed.”
This year I’ve been through multiple rounds of burnout both in my personal and professional life. I deleted my social media accounts, which was very helpful. It’s been almost 6 months since I last had a Facebook profile. Also, it’s funny how my perspective has changed on social media trends. Has anyone else thought about how silly “selfies” seem? To each their own. I tried to make sure that what replaced the time spent using social media was actually positive. I think I have been at least partially successful. Getting back into programming, technology, and my other hobbies has been a nice departure from endlessly scrolling through pictures, tweets, and posts.
Starting this web site was actually a quick decision I made one morning. I have been getting more involved in Python development and realized I needed a home page for my projects that would be hosted on GitHub. It was also nice to have a place to talk about technical subjects or other things that interest me. Those I know would have a place to keep up with what I’ve been working on, and I would have dedicated space to include information regarding my projects.
So, I titled this post “What’s Next?” Probably some updates to PyKBLayoutOptimizer, maybe I’ll add a GUI and make some minor changes to help make the layout more accurate. I won’t spend too much time on it though, because I have my eyes on a bigger effort. I won’t announce it just yet, but I’m excited to be looking forward to the new year and all the opportunities and experiences that it will bring.
Jon Reagan 