don't postpone joy: a holiday message from SWD

Alberto Cairo, in our recent conversation on the SWD podcast, said that he tells his students, “Although we do need to pay the bills, your priority should be to have a good life.” This is why I love the holiday season. It reminds us what it means to live a good life, which includes not postponing joy. So many holiday traditions are focused on being with friends and family, on giving rather than receiving, on finding little bits of magic in our everyday lives and sharing that magic with the people we care about. Some aspects of it can be stressful, to be sure; but the stress often comes from a place of love—of wanting to make the season as special as possible for the people in our lives, or reminiscing wistfully about people who made it special for us, and may no longer be with us.

For most of the year, those of us at SWD throw ourselves into the enjoyable task of helping people around the world learn to communicate more effectively. In that endeavor we have grown to be a close-knit group of colleagues and friends, and have come to know and enjoy the company of countless members of the SWD community. 

Nevertheless, we all have families, friends, and loved ones outside of the office. After December 15, SWD will be closed until the new year, so that those people get the full measure of our attention. While we spend the holiday season with the people closest to us, and encourage you to do the same, we’d like to remind you that you don’t have to wait until the end of the year to prioritize having a good life, and bringing a little magic throughout the year, in whatever ways you can, to yourself and to those you love. 

Happy holidays from all of us at storytelling with data. See you in the New Year!