So here it is, 2021!

I don’t want to write about all the bad things that happened globally in 2020. For me personally, it was a difficult year, but in the end I’m quite satisfied with how everything worked out. I finished my master’s degree in spring, moved to another city and got my first full-time job as a software developer in July. It’s an interesting and challenging position and I’m learning a lot. Due to corona, I’m almost exclusively working from home. Technologically, this doesn’t really affect my work, but I recognize that it’s much more difficult to connect to my colleagues on a personal level. Even after almost half a year, there are people in my team I probably wouldn’t recognize if I met them on the street. This will change once working in the office becomes normal again and I’m really looking forward to it.

Besides work, I really missed meeting people in 2020. One of the reasons for moving was being able to reconnect with old friends and rejoin the sports clubs I’ve missed in the last years. This obviously didn’t go as planned. Sure, Zoom meetings made it technically possible to “see” others, but to me, that’s only a workaround and can’t replace real in-person meetings. I’m really hoping that 2021 will bring these back eventually.

In my free time, I’m still thinking a lot about what could best be described as “the future of computing”. This includes new ways to store structured data in files, new approaches to programming language design, thoughts on how backups should be and a lot of other ideas that I find interesting. Most of these ideas are floating in my head or written down in a paper notebook. I’ve been writing ideas into paper notebooks for some time now and I recently switched to notebook #3. For some ideas, I also created prototypes that I published either on this blog or on twitter.

I feel like I should really be writing more about my ideas. Writing about them might reveal corner cases I haven’t thought about and reader feedback would be very valuable to me. I also really want to spread some of these ideas to more minds because I’m convinced they are valuable. The only problem is that I’m having a real struggle with writing. This already started in primary school where I really hated writing stories and this rejection has been with me ever since. I know that writing is hard, that I’m not particularly talented as a writer and that comparing my attempts with the post of my favorite bloggers isn’t fair (native speakers, lots of experience, …). It’s still hard for me to just sit down and write without worrying too much about the result. I hope that I’ll be able to overcome this problem some day, probably by making a habit out of writing. If you’re reading this, it means that I at least succeeded in finishing this post, which would be great. On the other hand, I don’t want to put any pressure on me. This blog and the ideas I’d like to write about are my hobby and I shouldn’t force myself into something I don’t enjoy doing. I don’t get paid for it and no-one (except me) is having any expectations. If this is the first and last post for this year, that’s perfectly fine. If I manage to write more, that’s awesome, but not required in any way.

Outlook

So what’s the plan for next year?

The first thing that comes to mind is being a good person, even though that’s difficult to define. Supporting others, being attentive to their situations and feelings and trying to help them is something I (and probably everyone) should have a strong focus on, especially in these times. Of course, this also applies to myself. Self-care is important and I know that I can improve in some areas.

I want to continue giving my best at work and pursue my dreams whenever I have the energy and motivation to do so. I’m excited about what could be happening in 2021 and I’m really looking forward to how things will play out.

Thank you for reading this post. I wish you all the best for the coming year!