WEAL

Weal is a fortunate four letter word.

weal: noun. well-being, prosperity, happiness.

Some days, it is difficult to get past a feeling of “life sucks”... while other times, things are more in perspective. Today was one of the latter days... where I can really understand and appreciate how fortunate I am... or how lucky... or what have you.

I have a wonderful family. I have friends and acquaintances who have been there for me. I have a job that I enjoy (at a salary that I also enjoy), a great boss, and terrific coworkers. I live in a comfortable house, in a community I like, near enough to NYC to take advantage of it... or to leave it alone. I have opportunities to learn new skills and, if I am so inclined, to profit from them.

Is my life perfect? No, of course not. Catch me on a bad day, and I can gripe about all of those and then some. I can bitch about the stresses of life, or finances, or my job. But even on these bad days, deep down I know my life is good.

And I try to share some of my good fortune. I donate time and money to charities - tho perhaps not as much as I should. I try to teach others the things I’ve learned - tho perhaps not as well as I could. I take part in my communities, both physical and online, by leading where I can, following where I should, and preparing others to follow in my footsteps. I am conscious of my role in my family, and their immense importance in my life. I am aware of my obligations to myself.

A year ago, I was lucky enough to get a ticket to I/O. It is no understatement to say that it put my life on a very different course than it was just six months before. For a number of reasons, this year I feel quite fortunate that I’ll be able to go again. I’m glad I’ll be able to meet and work with friends I’ve made over the past year... and sad that there will be others that are unable to be there. I’m excited to learn more... hopeful that I’ll be able to share what I learn with others... and deeply deeply aware of the honor and privilege that I have by going. Not everyone that wanted to go got a ticket... and not everyone that wanted to go can afford to do so, either because of circumstance or finances.

I hope that you’ll all virtually join me on my trip to I/O again this year. I hope I can share with you what I learn and experience and you come away knowing more than when we started. I hope that we, collectively, can do awesome things with what we discover. I hope we can change our lives, and the lives of everyone we encounter, for the better - because thats what being a developer is all about.

And I hope all of us, deep down, know how fortunate we are.