Month-in-Review Highlights: June 2022

Sunflowers bordering the walking path that follows a metro line in central Lausanne, Switzerland. June 30, 2022.

I postmortem each month shortly after it ends, reflecting on what happened in general and, more specifically, in the context of my goals. Though I don’t share all my insights here, I have made it a practice to share at least one key highlight or insight. (To read previous months’ reviews, click here.)

So how did I do against planned 2022 goal progress in June?

Overall, more successes than failures on the progress count, though (as always) a few holes to fill in before the year gets even further ahead of me.

Anyone reading along over here knows I consume a lot of books. I’ve always loved reading and consider it one of my primary passions. To document in a more concrete way my impressions of each book, I made it a goal this year to bullet out a few notes about each one read—not just a few key tomes, as I’ve done in the past.

I kept up the habit well in the first several months of the year, but dropped off as late spring and early summer kicked in. I read quickly and I don’t always have a minute to get to my computer to jot down my thoughts when I finish one book and before I start another. By the time I do get to my notes document, I often have several books to add to the page—which then makes it more of a chore than a pleasure.

I’m on the fence as to whether I’ll revive this goal and return to making notes on absolutely every book I read or whether I’ll revert to noting a few thoughts about certain books when something strikes me. I gained a lot from the every-book reflection, and it made me a much more active reader when it comes to dissecting, understanding, and appreciating the writer’s craft, but I don’t know that what I’ll further gain will merit the dedication the effort requires. We’ll see.

Otherwise, I noted that I keep delaying some of the administrative work I have on my list related to corporate entity accounting and structure. I’ll get on that next month. Yes, I know, not a particularly exciting thing to report, but putting it in writing here—publicly and formally—might force me to do it.

And finally, as the month of June wrapped, I noticed a lot more contact from and with people. As getting more human connection in my life is a big goal for the year, this came as a big perk-up.

I saw someone I’d met during the pandemic (on Zoom, of course) during a recent visit to Paris and I’ve gotten a lot more outreach from new acquaintances and friends here in Europe—markedly more than I have to date. I don’t know if the summer starting has made everyone feel much more extroverted, if a revival of outdoor activity has made more interaction possible, if people feel an overall reviving of life that they haven’t felt in two COVID-choked years, if it’s a combination of these factors, or what. Causes aside, I like it!