Questions, Not Answers

Last year, when I started this hunch of a community, I had a clear direction of how I wanted to curate the conversation and direct the flow of communication. I walled off a lot of the content so you had to be "in" to be able to see it and you had to be a paying member to be able to comment on it. I did that because honestly, there are still a few bogeymen from my past that I wasn't sure I wanted to be able to read what I actually was thinking and what I actually was believing to be true about my path ahead and about the way in which I'd come to understand the road behind. Whether my ex-wife, my ex-fiancee, my former business partner, my angry uncle, or several people who previously I'd have called "best friends" that I now no longer have any contact with whatsoever, I was worried about what they'd say if I let them read without my permission or comment without paying their dues.

I was trying to control this conversation too tightly and I choked it out. I was trying to put out good content on safe topics and the lack of comments or engagement spoke louder than any words from anyone in my past: safe is stale and controlled is choked out.

So as I start this new year, I've got many more questions than answers. I've got a lot of curiosities that I am going to honestly explore here. I've got a lot more capacity to deal with a lot more uncertainty because I have a lot more confidence in who I am and where I am going.

I want to thank everyone who has allowed me the privilege of dropping into your inbox every now and then. My hope is that when you see a note from me you'll read it when you have a moment to give it a thoughtful response if it speaks to you. I am going to be judging success this year by engagement and reactions, not opens and subscribes. If I write something and no one acknowledges it, I am going to assume it needs to be deleted or rewritten. Don't engage out of pity, but if there's something there that strikes your fancy or gives you an opportunity to share your story with me, I really hope you will.

I'm gonna try to be as raw and transparent here as I can and I want to thank you for the time we'll have to asynchronously learn from each other in the year ahead.