Today is your day

What a year.

Reflection isn't my strong suit. I think. But I wish it were more part of my life. So I thought I'd try to piece together … part of … my story in 2024.

Oh, the places you'll go!

You’ll be seeing great sights!

This was the second year that I have led Nuxt. It's been exhilarating to see how things have grown.

We're rising in retention, positivity and awareness compared to other meta-frameworks. I don't claim credit for that - but it's a pleasure to be a part of the community that makes that possible.

This isn't a zero-sum game. Nuxt doesn't 'lose' when other frameworks do well. I want to see our community characterised by the kind of relentless kindness that (I firmly believe) will in the end lead to continued growth and success.

The unjs project is an example of our commitment to go further, together, and I'm delighted to see other frameworks are joining us in building on top of Nitro.

I've spent most of this year focusing on improving the stability and trustworthiness of the Nuxt ecosystem in the run-up to the release of Nuxt v4, but I do feel a bit lost in the details.

I have managed to launch a few projects, from Nuxt Fonts, unifont, page-speed.dev to smaller ones like oxc-walker, impound, errx, zero-vue, nuxt-workers or nuxt-rebundle.

Nevertheless it feels like my idea list is full to overflowing, and I would love more time to create features or launch new projects! ✨

• Next year, I want to do more pioneering.

You’re off and away!

I love coding. It's fun and my hobby. I don't have an objective to be 'active' on GitHub every day. But, as it happens, I have been.

That's a side-effect of doing something that I enjoy.

I count myself incredibly fortunate to be able to make a living from being a full-time open source maintainer.

It's something I get to do rather than have to.

That's one reason I stream maintenance, building things or talking to people. You can find me on Algora, Twitch or YouTube. I think of it as 'coding with friends' and it's part of the fun.

If you've joined me on stream, sponsored me, contributed to Nuxt - or supported me in any of the many other ways people have made my life a joy this year, thank you ❤️

• Next year, I want to continue to take joy in my work.

There is fun to be done!

In early 2023, arriving back from New Year holidays, I realised that I had really neglected my own health. On recommendation from Jessica Sachs and Marc Backes, I downloaded Noom, dusted off my Oura Ring and set off to look after myself a bit more.

That year I lost 15 kg - and found my way back to good health. I also discovered some things that I loved doing - like bouldering.

It's a lovely, inclusive community, and if you ever fancy joining me for a climb (even as a total beginner!) you'd be very welcome.

I've been bouldering just over a year (I started in September 2023), and in that time - mostly in 2024 - I've climbed in 35 gyms around the world. Blending physical fun and intellectual work has been a recipe for feeling like more of a whole person

I can't attribute it just to bouldering, but over these last two years, I've begun to discover the importance of looking after my own needs. Rather than living entirely in my head, I think it's important to enjoy physicality and being 'embodied'.

I don't entirely know what that will mean, but I want to continue to live in sync with what I need.

• Next year, I want to continue to look after myself.

You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights

I was tremendously honoured this year to join the ranks of GitHub Stars. I loved joining others at GitHub Universe and meeting folk in San Francisco - which absolutely lived up to its reputation!

I was also mentioned by some of those filling out the State of JS 2024 survey. Thank you - it means a great deal. ❤️

• Next year, I don't want to stop learning and growing.

Bang-ups and hang-ups can happen to you

This year has brought it's own share of pain. I don't think that's unusual, but my own griefs are dear to me - at least because they are mine.

I don't particularly want to write about them here, but for me it's important that I really feel these things, not set them aside.

• Next year, I want to take time to feel the things that hurt, too.

And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go

To finish with a few more words from the poem that's inspired the title and headings of this post:

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.

I'm optimistic about the future. I don't know exactly what it will hold, of course - but let's surf the chaos together. Here's to another year of joy and love, friendship and fun! 🍻