If you had told me at my seven year anniversary that my eighth anniversary would fall during a global pandemic, that I’d change roles out of Happiness (technically), and that I’d be directing the Happiness Experience, I wouldn’t have believed a single one of those things, in decreasing order of credulity.

But indeed, all those things have come to pass.

I actually forgot about this anniversary (and I never forget!), but I’ve been homeschooling the kids all day until 3, then switching to work all afternoon and night, until 9 or 10, at which point I’m pretty fried. This has been a tough week, but it’s a temporary problem until we find another nanny. But the overload has made me forgetful about the actual day and date.

Looking back over the past eight years, I am incredibly proud of my work, and humbled that I have had the chance to do this work. I’ve grown in ways I never anticipated, and Automattic has grown in many fantastic ways as well. It’s still the most interesting and challenging work I’ve ever been entrusted with, and I still love it. There are days I want to throw my hands up in the air, like I just don’t care, but the vast, vast majority are productive and fruitful. I like the people I work alongside, and I’m eager to contribute to broadening our culture with many new Happiness Engineer hires in the coming year.

By my ninth Automatticversary, I hope that the pandemic is over. I hope that we learn the lessons we must from the lives that have been lost. I hope that in America in particular we don’t lose our new need to create social equality based in reality, not in perception. I hope the OKRs we set today are the catalyst for bigger and bigger, grander and greater things. I hope to never homeschool again.

To the next eight!