This year has been one of the good ones. It spanned the spectrum. It had balance.

It’s been wild in its extremes. There’s been a whirlwind of emotions and experiences on so many different levels.

The intensities of pleasure and pain were significant.

But that contrast is what makes life worth living.

I endured the suffering of devastating loss, the kind that doesn’t make sense — the kind that might never be understood. I’ve also felt the heartwarming joy of new friendship, the kind of connection that one feels deep in the soul.

I walked along streets of sand on a tiny Caribbean island — a place that removed my mind from the modern world. Months later, a self-driving taxi drove me around a city that is one of the global capitals of technology. Both of these experiences shattered my outlook of the future and how we should progress.

I surfed waves of adrenaline while biking down the sides of mountains. I also burned out in failed attempts to find a balance between a day-job and multiple side projects.

There was crippling anxiety at times, and brief battles with depression and the physical ailments that come with it. All the while, with habit and relative discipline, I got in the best shape of my adult life.

I met a sister that I didn’t know I had. And I stayed up until dawn, on a few too many occasions, with some of the most amazing humans that I know.

I learned to shift my perspective in unexpected ways. Much of this came from writing — a lot.

Looking back, I feel like I need some time to process it all. It was a big one, emotions were extreme. But the moments that stand out — the good and the bad — they feel important.

These moments will shape my future.

2024 was a roller coaster.

And for all of it, every moment that me feel alive, every person that made this year magical, I am eternally grateful.