I’m Tryin’ (Patreon)

Today is my birthday. To celebrate, here's a photo of me as a young man.

I like this photo because I feel like not much has changed in the years since it was taken: David Chen is still always experimenting with new technologies, novel ways to communicate, all while having a look of disorientation and abject terror on his face.

A few reflections on the past year: It was a difficult one. COVID and its aftermath has hit each of us in our own way. But everyone lost something. Everyone is grieving something. I'm no different.

In particular, I think this past year has been largely defined by people in my family. There's been terror, anxiety and sympathy that I've felt from family members facing health issues. There's been triumph and relief as certain challenges have been overcome. And there's also just joy at getting to know my brother and his family better, as they've recently relocated to Seattle. 

At the same time, I'm grateful for all the folks (including Joy and David Cho and everyone else) who has collobrated with me, supported me, and helped me continue to do the work I do online. And I'm thankful for folks such as yourselves who have supported me financially and encouraged me to keep trying out new and weird things on the internet. 

In 2022, I quit my full-time job to make podcasts and videos full-time and I literally would not have done it if it weren't for the folks on this Patreon. It was you folks that gave me the confidence to think that there was some value to the work I was doing online and that maybe it was worth investing more effort into. I'll always be grateful for that.

Decoding TV -- a business/podcast network that did not exist one year ago -- is basically solvent, with a lot of options for where it could go next. My free newsletter Decoding Everything is growing and has reaches new and exciting people each week. In the grand scheme of things, not many people get to do what I do and there's not a day that goes by that I don't feel the weight of that. Nor do I take it for granted, or think it will last forever.

A year and a half ago, I started seeing a therapist. I've learned a lot about myself in the time since, but the biggest thing is that happiness is a choice - or if not happiness itself, the circumstances and conditions that can facilitate happiness. I don't always choose wisely but I'm trying. To quote Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction, "I'm trying, Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be the shepherd."

[A less detailed version of this post was also published on my Instagram page]