The What A Year Project

The What A Year project was an attempt at rediscovering my lost enthusiasm for life. It was an effort to live more intentionally and start doing things that I've always wanted to do, yet never got around to doing. Back in July, 2020, as the world was still navigating the COVID-19 pandemic and adjusting to life in lockdown, I sat in my New York apartment with one of my best friends and then-roommate, Brett. We contemplated what the future had in store, as our lease was coming up at the end of the month and I'd just been laid off. I felt particularly stuck and directionless. Although the responsible thing would have been to start job searching, I was uninspired and needed to try something different. I told him that, with all the hopelessness and hardship consuming the world, I merely hoped to someday look back on this chapter with a soft smile and say, "Damn, what a year." I took a look at a bucket list that I'd started during my Freshman year of college and narrowed it down to some of my favorites. I was curious to see what would happen if I gave myself one year to deliberately go after these neglected life goals. And so, on September 1, 2020, I began my journey to try to cross off 52 goals in 52 weeks. Some were simple (#38. Pay for a stranger's meal), some were ambitious (#11. Bike down the coast from San Francisco to San Diego), and some were pretty ridiculous (#41. Take a selfie with Joseph Gordon-Levitt). But ALL of them were valuable to me. To see how it went, check out my website! www.whatayearproject.com My hope in sharing my story is that it will inspire others to finally go after some of those neglected items on their lists, too. I think too many of us wait, over-analyze, or simply give up on the things that we’ve always wanted to do. And I’ve experienced first-hand that if you just get started, share your aspirations with the community around you, and have the willingness to be a little bit vulnerable, you’ll be amazed to see how the world responds.