I’m going to try to make this my final year-end blog post, I promise. This time last year, I did a recap of my creative output for 2022 and found it quite motivating, so I’ve decided to bring it back. Welcome to my second annual—and yes, I’m allowed to call it that now—creative year-in-review.

Writing is still one of my absolute favorite things to do, and I’m constantly trying to make more time for it. My success or failure at that is reflected in my blog post output. I published 57 articles this year (58 if you include this one). That’s an average of more than one per week, way up from the one per month I wrote last year.

I’m really happy with that number. Back in what I consider my “golden era” of blogging, I was putting out a post every single week without fail. While my schedule this year wasn’t as routine, I still managed to write a lot more than I expected.

There was more variety in what I wrote on the blog this year, too. In addition to discussing apps and Apple stuff, I published some personal stories, linked to other writers, and complained about the Fast Saga movies. Talk about range!

This blog has been my home on the internet for twelve years now, and it means so much to me. I love that I get to keep coming back here to share what I’m thinking, doing, and using, and the fact that anyone cares enough to read it just means the world. Thank you to everyone who read, shared, and responded this year. It’s been a great year for the blog.

I also do a lot of personal writing in my journal, which has become more and more of a creative outlet for me this year. It’s a place to process the day and write about feelings, sure, but I’ve also been using it as a way to record and remember special moments in my life. The number of times this year I’ve said to my wife, “Guess what I found in my journal from a year ago,” has been astonishing, and it’s made me want to invest even more energy into journaling. It’s a practice that I just get so much out of.

Sigmund and I published 39 episodes of our Apple TV podcast Magic Rays of Light this year. I took parental leave from the show for a bit, so we didn’t quite hit that weekly mark every time, but we did get into a really good groove this year. It’s been a great experience making this show with my buddy, and I’m excited for what we have in store for next year.

Sticking with podcasts, I made an appearance on Tim Chaten’s show iPad Pros again this year. I have so much respect for the work Tim does, so it was an honor to get to chat with him and to even have him on an episode of MROL.

One of my random little projects this year was creating a new website for my family, which was a good bit of fun. I did some shuffling around of domain names behind the scenes and set up iCloud email for a bunch of domains. It’s not flashy, but I get a lot of enjoyment out of poking around the backend of these things.

Of course, my favorite thing I “made” this year is my son, Noah, who was born in August. He’s happy, healthy, secure, and growing, and any small role I get to play in that is my greatest accomplishment in life. Some of my creative endeavors had to take a back seat when he arrived, but I’d take being a dad over anything. Plus, I can always blog while he’s napping, right?

Doing a wrap-up like this feels like a highlight reel of my life over the past year. Of course, these are just the things I share publicly, so it’s only a partial view. But when it comes to what I’ve made this year, I can certainly say that I am pleased and proud.

I’ve enjoyed all the writing, podcasting, and tinkering I’ve been able to do this year. And beyond that, it’s been a downright pleasure connecting with everyone who’s come across my work and decided to say hello. Here’s to a great year that was, and to an even better one ahead in 2024!