18th of December to the end of the year 2023

So here we go. Day 2 of a new year and I am catching up on stories prompted by the old one. Stories are timeless. While I am typing this, I am on my third 500ml mug of awesome black tea. Tea consumption went up from almost zero to roughly 2 litres a day - good stuff. On Netflix, there is a show about plant-based versus meat based diet - interesting stuff to have on in the back. Here we go with the last set of stories. I hope you get some pleasure reading them. Happy New Year, 2024. May it be a good one and all works out for you.

18th of December: “How do I think about my educational history and how does it affect me today?”

I loved studying. All throughout with a couple of hiccups. Rarely there was a day when I didn’t want to go to school, and I never apart from sickness skipped a day. Crazy, eh. I am still that way. I show up. Always did, still do. As a matter of fact, I barely learned outside of school or university. I made sure to be there, listen and interact during the lessons. I hated homework. Barely if ever did it, even though I was able to. I preferred to copy or do it during the breaks. At home there were books, the TV and the SNES waiting for me, why take the stuff from school home? I loved the social aspects of school, the coming together, the discussing things and learning something new every day. I also believe that some if not most of my teachers were very formative to me and I value them as persons and what they taught me during the studies and outside of it. Not only that, but I still get a warm and fuzzy feeling whenever I met someone that reminds me of my favourite teachers.

19th of December: “My thoughts on the internet”

I don’t think the internet is the bane of our existence. No matter how I look at it, it is a good thing. A massive step forward and the one of the first true revolution when it comes to work and life after the industrial revolution. People on the internet are also not a separate society. It’s a reflection of the society. If anything, our society and interactions have unfortunately transcended from the internet to real life. People tend to say things now in public that they would have only said in total anonymity. The internet therefore was just a sign of things to come, and still is in a way. All that information at hand. The internet is no fit for the people that want easy answers. For people that are not able to check and read up on sources. I think academic and scientific thinking can help us with that.

20th of December: “A ghost story”

I don’t believe in ghosts and I don’t want to write about Charles Dickens and his ghost hunting club, like the book suggests. There are no ghosts. That being said, I watched The Muppets Christmas Carroll during Christmas and it was fantastic. The ghosts in that film were great. Great designs and a great lesson to the future Alfred Pennyworth. I enjoy ghosts in movies and stories. Only the “real world” ghosts I don’t like because they don’t exist. Wraiths or ghost like creatures in fiction are great. I wonder why ghosts in fiction look the way they look. Transparent or dark and almost weightless - fascinating. As a teen, we visited the local graveyard in my village at night a couple f times, and we just scared ourselves with stories about ghosts and sounds and whatnot. Nowadays, I would walk through there like it is the most natural place in the world at any time of the day or night. Ain’t afraid of no ghosts.

21st of December: “Write about a hygge scene”

Hygge is something I love. Making a room warm and comfy without touching a thermostat. Our living room is hygge. There is a big royal green sofa with big pillows and all the furniture is in dark wood with black accents and the two Billy bookshelves house a lot of books that I will read or have read. Soft blankets, candles, a nice and cozy smell and just something that looks lived in rather than sterile that is hygge to me. A warm drink, books, candles, sofas and blankets. You know what? It’s a feeling. There is this weird world of 90s and 00s German cinema ads that all take place in a mix of 80s and 90s fashion with a soft glow. I always found these to be comfortable. Hygge is warm and comfortable. Find it for you.

22nd of December: “Find a previous entry and re-edit it - kill your darlings”

You always have a presence in this world. Take up the space that you need. Your words are heard and have weight, so use them. Make the people around you feel something positive. Use the power of your intentions, your gut, to fertilise the world around you. You can do so much more than you think. Now start!

23rd of December: “What will change in 10 years?”

Realistically, we are in for a horrible outlook. More floodings, more draughts, more forest fires, and more catastrophes altogether. We are royally fucked and saw it coming. We will have to deal with the consequences and try to change our way of living so it aligns more with the planet and for our kids to have a future. With the bleakness out of the way, a lot of things will change, too - for the better. I believe in 10 years we will be more accepting of different life outlooks. We will have more collaboration across countries, people, and ideas. I truly believe we will use most if not all our energy from renewable sources. Software and open source will have made more ground together than the insanely big businesses that have the internet in its grasp today. I believe in 10 years, work will exist as something we can and want to do, because almost all the menial and boring work is taken care of by machines and artificial intelligence. It will be a time when most of us are allowed to do what they really want to do and play more.

24th of December: “Plan an adventure, as this can be more powerful than the experience”

I don’t like planning much, but this reminds me of the Paris-syndrome. Something a lot of Chinese tourists experience when visiting Paris. A depression like state that they fall into when they experience Paris in reality, and it is not like the imagined romantic wonderland. I experienced something similar in Venice. Venice was dirty and stunk, and we got scammed on the streets. Later on we witnessed a pair of robbers running around with bags over bridges and through the winding streets followed by the police. The last adventure and 3 weeks of staying in Taiwan were planned by my wife - it was fantastic, and I am thankful. I don’t like to plan. I walk streets and start my adventure in reality and not with a plan before. If people plan for me, I really appreciate that, as it still leaves room for the adventure that I can develop myself.

25th of December: “A new holiday”

Earth day. I think it exists already, but I want to be as big as Christmas. That day, we all just eat plant based food. We all are more conscious about our consumerism and the planet we live on. We go outside and enjoy nature. Maybe we go for a swim in a lake. Maybe we just take a stroll through the forest. We don’t give gifts to fellow humans. We donate to animal shelters, Sea Sheppard and companies that plant trees. Companies participate in that day and donate as well. Everything that day is dedicated to the health and lives on our planet. People garden hard on that day and are as thankful for everything earth provided for us. We go to sleep on that day with the windows open and the heaters turned off, and look at the sky to say thank you and good night. The next morning we celebrate the sun coming up, and we try to make some of the feelings and thoughts last throughout the year.

26th of December: “A conversation without words”

How do I convey this, she thought and swung her arms around her body. It looked like a drunk tornado. He shook his head. Left right, right left and back again. Then finally a nod. A clear sign that he understood. He picked up two sticks from the ground and copied her with the sticks pointing left right, right left and back again. She nodded with a warm smile. Now on to the next part. She jumped and tucked her knees in and after hitting the ground again she touched the floor with her flat hands. Sticks in hand he jumped up, knees high in the air and after sticking the landing he dropped the sticks right on the ground. They both smile as wide as they are able to. She goes back into the position with the hands on the floor. She looks at him confidently from below, grins and does a backflip. He turns around like a ballet dancer and claps while laughing. She signs 3, 2, and 1 and nods slightly. He goes into the starting position picks up the sticks while looking up, imagining the whole movement and does a backflip. He crosses the sticks and moves them controlled back his body and then bows to her. She bows back.

27th of December: “Describe your best feature”

My face. I like my face. I remember reading “How to win friends and influence people” and there was this exercise with looking in the mirror and smiling. This will make you happy. Apparently our brains assume this is happy and healthy and just get your body in a healthy mood. Whenever I pass a mirror, I flash a quick smile. Love effort and always a positive outcome. It’s as natural, great and impactful as saying thank you, please, and bye. Where do you get so much out of so little? So yeah, I like my face. I like it more with a beard. My eyes are bright and easily transport my mood. I have trouble hiding what I think. You can read my face. I like that. I believe it is important to like yourself and at least one of your features. I just happen to like the one the most that conveys these emotions.

28th of December: “Write about a book that has changed you”

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. I did read this multiple times, and in a way I have learned something new each time. At first, I admired Siddhartha for his sheer will and determination to go his own way, and at the same time let go of everything. Then at a point later on in life and at the third or fourth read of the book I noticed what a selfish asshole is when he leaves behind well meaning friends. This was before the show Penn & Tellers Bullshit!, but the book has changed me in the same way this book did years prior. Even when something sounds fantastic and great, it is worth looking at it critcally and check what the price for that really is. It also changed me in showing me there are no easy solutions for big ideas or problems. We can try to understand and devot ourselves to a single topic and dive deep or we can trust experts and do some critical thinking. Not the kind of “critical thinking” conspiracy theorists do in checking some random channel and some dipwhit that takes one study and bends everything to his will.

29th of December: “Creative goals for the next year”

Doing more of the uncomfortable things. I was speaking to a colleague and told him about the cousin of my wife when we were in Taiwan. That dude was a fat kid and lost all of the weight and became a fitness instructor. He did a check up of both of us and I was at my fattest. I have literally no constant problems with my body. But posture was a bit off and he made me realize I miss some core strength. So now I adjust my standing posture every now and then. I also train stuff that I disliked, because the gain will be better. For the creative side it is much the same. I think I have to do more of the uncomfortable stuff. The things that I dislike. Editing, reviewing and re-checking. I actually already have an idea on how to put this into action here. Yeah, mst of the time I just put out whatever I have written as a first draft, without checking again, reviewing or further editing and I just will learn to do that - as a creativity goal.

30th of December: “Predict how to spend New Years Eve a year from now”

There certainly will be now fireworks for us. Just some of the sparkle sticks on our balcony. We will watch the fireworks and all the money our neighbours and surroundings shoot into the air. We will have had some great food. Fish probably with loads of vegetables. We drink some sparkling alcohol and watch “Dinner for one”. We laugh, we talk about the past year and look forward to the coming year. Trash is taken out and the place is cleaned before the new year starts. The next year is going to be a good year too.

31st of December: “If this year had one more day what would you do with it?”

This year I would have used it for relaxing. There was too little relaxing and doing nothing in 2023. My fault. It is okay to be bored and use a day to catch up on movies, TV shows or just spend a day indoors with cooking and chilling. Not that I not did that, but just a bit too little. So one day extra I would make into a tea and book day. Nothing is allowed on that day but reading and drinking tea in a hygge environment. Finish that last book on your list for the year and start a new one you are excited for.

So that is it. I did 365 little stories after writing prompts from a book. It has been fun, it has been work at times and two days after the start of the new year I completed that task and book. I am proud of myself and thankful for everyone that had a read here, even if it was just a single story. Be happy, be healthy and do somehting creative. 2024 I do more of the stuff that is uncomfortable.