One second of every day in 2021

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The second year of the pandemic was also my second year of nomading. It was a hard year, but in many ways, a better year than the first.

Vaccines made many things possible in 2021. For the first time in over a year, I saw family. I spent the first six months in four cities in California, hiking Yosemite and catching up with old college friends I hadn’t seen in a decade. I then fulfilled a ten-year dream to live in Boulder, where I continued my habit of fostering dogs. With my transient lifestyle allowing me to go wherever I’m needed, I was able to help a friend through surgery in Utah, then dogsit for another friend in Montana. I made my first trip back to Massachusetts, reconnecting with my roots. Finally, I spent the holidays watching Star Trek with my podcast co-host in Fargo.

Each of those moments is its own story, waiting to be told. But in the meantime, they were captured in video, one second at a time.

My thanks to everyone who appeared in my 2021 montage: whereas my 2020 video included 48 friends and co-workers, the 2021 video featured cameos from 107! Many of our seconds were scripted rather than candid, which was one way to ensure I had each participant’s awareness and consent. The isolating combination of nomading in a pandemic meant there were still some days where the most exciting thing to happen to me was booting up Zoom or Netflix. But, as always, there were also plenty of dogs and ice cream.

It can be hard to live in the moment, and good memories are sometimes harder to remember than bad. This annual video project gives me perspective: it reminds me of the extraordinary, fantastic, and bizarre life I’ve led, and how fortunate I am to have led it.

I’m grateful for a life worth living and worth remembering, and I look forward to more adventures worth capturing in 2022.