The year that was 2012

So 2012 was over. Work was solid; some highlights being a report on
our work helping companies provide volunteers to build charities'
capacity and several events in London, Beijing and Hong Kong to
promote that report (which is here
http://ciyuan.bsr.org/data/resources/Lessons_of_Localization1.pdf).
There's been progress elsewhere with the CiYuan project, some other
projects and there are some exciting things in the pipeline. It's also
been another crazy year for FYSE with things happening non-stop and I
continue to learn a lot from listening and occasionally helping with
Andrea's amazing work.

Elections have come and gone; nothing hugely exciting in reality and
certainly not compared to the Olympics which were a fantastic
experience and one I am so glad I could have witnessed and that London
hosted. It's clear the London way was about spirit, sport, and heroes.
Which is what it should be, not about impressiveness, grandeur or
efficiency as others have been.

Clearly the year was dominated by the arrival of a daughter, a month
spent in England and Germany, and adapting to being a father. Well to
be honest there was not much adapting necessary. I suppose the 9
months are there so you can prepare really, so we did, in our own way,
which means, we did not do much preparation. We met a few people with
kids, read a book or a book-and-a-half, and bought a few bits and
pieces. And that was that.

In fact the most remarkable thing is not, as I originally thought, the
five seconds transition from living in a closed environment full of
water with eyes closed and breathing and eating through a tube to
breathing through eyes and mouth, using (sort of) eyes, witnessing
sounds and chaos and moving freely. And yes, even despite the
horrendous nature of those five seconds, it's not that remarkable.
That is, compared to what happens afterwards.

In a year, which is not really a very long time, that little baby that
can barely move much, learns to use eyes, ears and other senses to
such an incredible extent that the baby can manipulate things, crawl
and walk, identify things and recognize things. The baby's brain
develops so much within 12 months it can remember things, think in
order to predict, communicate and more. It's quite incredible to think
about it really. Of course it will continue for the next few years; as
the toddler learns to talk, jump and eat. In retrospect, I'm not sure
I've achieved much in my last 12 months... or even the past 25 years
in comparison.