#163 Auld lang syne
I’m one of those people who dislikes the hysteria around the new year. Or even birthdays. There’s something awfully stupid about celebrating your long march to the empty void. The frantic joviality and glee that often feels prescriptive. Like a toddler forced to smile for a photo. Terrible analogy but you know what I mean.
But at the same time, there’s also something wonderful about new beginnings. About looking back on a year gone by. Being grateful for what the year gave you.
And I have so much to be grateful for.
In 2022, we started not one but three newsletters. Yes, yes, we’re all a bunch of naive overachievers. You can see the other two here and here.
But the best bit of 2022 for me was writing… not for work… but for joy. It’s been a long time since I have been able to do that, and thanks to Just One Thing, there is writing for joy again.
If I could I’d ask you to read everything my collaborators – Nikita, Proiti, Ria and Dolly – have ever written. But we’re only choosing favourites this week – so here are mine.
Dolly is a connoisseur of the odd. And the obscure. He will cheerfully ruin your day by singing songs that plagiarise songs you love. Or introduce you to things better left in a vault at the bottom of the ocean. Sometimes though, he comes up with real gems. Like this one about the man who makes bank at the intersection of a juvenile fascination with poop and tech.
Niki fascinates me. She’ll burrow deep into a topic that interests her until she’s read everything there is to read about it. Then she’ll speak to people who know all about it. And then read some more. A Miss Know It All. Like me. She also has one of the most romantic Instagram feeds you’ll ever come across. I don’t have Instagram. Niki is a cup of vanilla tea after a rubbish day. Here she is with how words matter.
Our Proiti is a songbird. No really. She spends a lot of time on the internet chasing the obscura train. Her words make me laugh and cry and want to be a better person. She once had me shaking my fist at a boy. Boy wasn’t in the room. I don’t even know boy. Her words, like her voice, have power. I can’t wait to see where they take her.
Ria came to us most recently, but you couldn’t tell. It’s almost like she’s been with us and writing with us forever. Her quiet voice is the perfect foil for her razor-sharp brain. She has a wicked sense of humour that we’re all just getting to know. This post and the trust game it references say more about Ria than she could ever know.
And then there’s you. The most important collaborator of them all.
Thank you for keeping us going all through 2022 with your feedback and encouragement. For reading Just One Thing. For telling your friends about us.
We write Just One Thing because it gives us joy. We hope reading us makes you happy too. We are utterly grateful for you.