Trade-offs and Triumphs 21 by @jennykim
Issue 21: Threadapalooza and 100 Things I am Grateful For, Gone But Not Forgotten: Rich Nelson, “Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus”
Hello, friends! Thank you to my 121 subscribers, and welcome to my new subscribers!
Welcome to issue 21!
How was your week? What were your trade-offs and triumphs?
Last week was one of the hardest weeks this year. Work, family responsibilities, personal learning, and just the unexpected kept converging and colliding, instead of staying in parallel lanes. I did not make any conscious trade-offs - I just tried to figure out which glass balls could not fall on the ground. Maybe that was the trade-off?
Anyway, I survived, and I am here.
And today is Winter Solstice, the day with the shortest period of daylight and longest night of the year. Today is also the day that Jupiter and Saturn will align perfectly to create a visible rare star for the first time in 800 years.
So take a moment to gaze at the sky, admire its darkness, and see if you can see Jupiter’s and Saturn’s alignment. Remember, we need darkness to see the stars. And to peer into the best and worst parts of ourselves. And to remember how to wish upon a star.
This week, we will hit on:
Threadapalooza and 100 Things I am Grateful For
Gone But Not Forgotten: Rich Nelson
“Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus”
For a quick oral summary about this newsletter, hit play below:
Threadapalooza and 100 Things I am Grateful For
In Trade-offs and Triumphs 19, I wrote about “The Annual Review” and the plethora of resources available to conduct one. I may put together a Twitter thread about this, because Twitter-verse seems to have many questions about how to do an annual review.
Recently, my Morning Season writing partner, Abhi Verma, introduced me to Patricia Mou, and I subscribed to her newsletter, “Wellness Wisdom.” In volume 30, I loved how she described how she commenced her annual review process:
So on a Saturday morning - I rolled up my sleeves, poured a heaping cup of coffee, and meticulously read through 350 journal entries.
Ideally, this is how I would like to do my annual review too, but I just know that this will not happen.
So I opted for a quick version - the 100-tweets thread challenge launched by Threadapalooza, and the Twitter version of NaNoWriMo. I fingered through journal entries, random scribbled notes on Obsidian and Notion, and started to put together my 100-Twitter thread of 100 things I am grateful for.
Other 100-tweets threads I enjoyed perusing and learning from:
Anne-Laure Le Cunff’s “interconnected patterns”
Craig Burgess’s visual metaphors, visualization, and being prolific
Paul Millerd’s “The State of Work 2020”
Gone But Not Forgotten: Rich Nelson
As I mentioned in Trade-Offs and Triumphs 19, writing and sending about about 200 plus holiday cards is an important annual ritual for me. But over the past five years, it has also been the time of the year when I inadvertently learn about the passing of dear friends and mentors.
The U.S. Postal Service provides a daily email service that notifies you about the types of mail that you will be receiving later in the day. Normally, I just glance at that email very quickly and then hit “delete.” But this past Saturday, my scrolling stopped when I saw a certain name, or failed to see a certain name.
Rich Nelson always sent his holiday cards early, but this year, he had been late. I figured that he had been delayed, because I had been delayed on sending mine out. So, I did not think much about it.
But when I saw his wife’s name on the return address of the USPS preview, I searched Rich’s name through the Dallas obituaries. I found him.
Last year, a similar thing had happened. My third grade teacher, Mrs. Jennifer Lipchik, and I had exchanged long, handwritten holiday cards for the past thirty years. She was a prolific letter writer and one of my first penmanship influences. I loved going back and forth with her, and she loved sending out her holiday cards early.
Except last year, I never received a holiday card from Mrs. Lipchik. Instead, her husband sent me a holiday card and explained that she had just passed away. He wrote that receiving any correspondence from me brought her great joy, because as a teacher, she loved it when she could tell others about her former students and their successes. He had heard much about me from her, and he advised me to continue to send what I would have written to her to him, in honor of her memory.
And I did so this year.
So when I saw Rich’s wife’s name, Bonnie, on the return address via the USPS email alert, I knew that Rich had passed away.
Rich Nelson was one of my first private firm clients as general counsel of EFW. He taught me about the importance of customer service, billing, and communication - the first time by being angry with me. Anger is a great teacher.
Rich also taught me about the importance of having interests outside of the law - he was an extremely talented musician and played in his local orchestra. And, he loved dancing, especially with his wife and daughters.
Rest in peace, Rich, and thank you for the rich lessons you taught me and conversations that we had.
“Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus”
In issue 37 of Transparent Tuesdays, Charlie Bleecker asks what to tell her infant son, when one day, he will ask her if Santa Claus is real.
I will tell you for certain that my father did not handle it so well - when I was four years old, he promptly informed me that there was no such thing as “Santa Claus.” As I stared at the red-suited, white-bearded old man, I nodded silently.
After that, I am not sure what I thought of Santa Claus. But it was not until many years later, I questioned conventional wisdom. I was watching the early evening news one day and listened to the famous letter from the 19th century being read out loud: “Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus.”
My ears perked up, and this line forever changed my mind about “Santa Claus”:
Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
Sometimes, we are unable to decipher what is real, because we either refuse to see it, or we cannot see it. But just because we cannot see or feel it, that does not necessarily mean it is not real. What is real but yet so intangible is the spirit that Santa Claus represents, and what all of us aspire to replicate - warmth, grace, and boundless and unconditional generosity and love.
Each Christmas Eve, I read this letter out loud to myself.
This time, thanks to Cam Houser and the confidence that his Minimum Viable Video course provided me, I recorded it on my Youtube channel.
Take a moment to listen - to the rhythm, grace, warmth, and charity of this editor’s words to ensure that he would not shatter this young girl’s dreams, imagination, and hope:
Have any questions or comments? You can find me on Twitter @jennykim or email me at jennykimwop@gmail.com
Check out my website for more: puttingittogether.blog
No lie as a trade-off is ever worth the temporary illusion of triumph. Keep on cultivating that rubber ball heart.
And, find that trade-off that will lead to triumph this week, no matter how small, and celebrate it.
See you next week!