I Mapped Out My Entire Life. It Was Unexpectedly Emotional.

A look back on my life so far.

I didn’t do a 2024 year end review. Instead, I did a review of my entire life. It was an interesting exercise, to reflect back and see the actual day I did something rather than having it be a distant memory. I used the “Life at a Glance” poster I designed:

Here are the elements I mapped:

1. Every birthday for 80 years.

2. My life in 3 major chapters: youth, adulthood, and the Octopus phase I’m in now.

3. Major life milestones: getting married, moving to California, etc.

4. Memorable travel experiences: Mongolia, Paris, etc.

5. Transitions: school and job changes.

I made a 90 second Youtube video of the mapping process if you’re curious to see how I did it.

So what did I discover in this experience?

When I first started mapping the calendar, I was just “filling in the blanks”, to get the elements down on paper. But as I searched through my email history to find things like flight bookings for vacations I took decades ago, I started to feel a little nostalgic. I’m not an emotional guy, and I’m usually not into nostalgia, but I have to admit I started to get a little bit of feels.

Tangibly recording what I did on an exact day years ago brought back a flood of memories. For example, leaving my university campus upon graduation. My car was packed, and I was on the sidewalk, staring at the dorm one last time. There was a guy named Rasul in the parking lot who was leaving at the same time, but didn’t seem in a hurry. I didn’t know Rasul well, we said hello to each other in the halls, and had a few short conversations here and there, but I wouldn’t say we were friends.

I think we were both weighing the magnitude of what was about to happen. A major life threshold into the unknown world of adulthood was being crossed. We had a nice conversation in the parking lot. I told him I was glad to have met him, and I wished him well, telling him I hope he had a good and blessed life, whatever he ended up doing. He said something similar, we did the man hug thing where you first shake hands then pull in for the quick back pat. Then we got in our cars and drove away. I knew I’d never see Rasul again.

Then there was the time I was desperately looking for an apartment after moving to Silicon Valley. Rents were outrageous in 2001, and they still are today. Our rent doubled from the $710 we were paying in Chicago to $1450 in San Jose. I moved to Silicon Valley with no job, two weeks after 9/11, and the dot com bubble had just burst. The entire country was in a strange mood.

I started riding my bike around the neighborhood looking for a cheaper apartment, as we were running out of money. I saw a “For Rent” sign on a building that had a house in the front and some kind of carriage house in the back. I rode my bike down the driveway into the backyard to try to find the apartment. While I was in the backyard, a car pulled into the driveway. A lady was driving alone. I froze. She saw me and slowed down, looking at me suspiciously, as one should when there’s a stranger in your backyard.

Should I jump on my bike and bolt away? I thought that would be even more suspicious so I decided to just be honest and explain myself as she cautiously got out of her car. I waved as friendly a wave as I could muster. “Hi, I’m Dave, don’t freak out, I saw the For Rent sign and was just looking for the apartment”. Her name was Erica and she was actually really nice. She asked why I’m looking to move and I told her how I was unemployed and needed to find a cheaper place to live. She gave me her business card and told me to send her my resume. I was certain that would go nowhere but I thanked her and rode off. I sent her my resume after I got home.

A few weeks later someone left me a voice message. “Hi Dave, my name is Dale from HemoSense, I got your resume, and I would like to have you come in for an interview”. I was puzzled by this message, because I had no idea who this guy was, and I was certain I had not applied for a job at any company called HemoSense. I called him back, and again just chose to be honest. “Dale, I’d love to come in for an interview, but I’m sorry I have no idea what I’m interviewing for, as I don’t recall applying for a job at your company”.

Dale said, “Well we have a lady working here who got your resume from another lady who said she met you in a parking lot?” We both laughed and thought it was the strangest way to apply for a job, but I was happy for the opportunity. I got the job, which was to do graphic design at a VC funded startup. My Silicon Valley dream was materializing in a way I never would’ve imagined.

Well that company eventually IPO’d and was acquired by a bigger company. Then the company that acquired us was acquired by an even bigger company. From start to finish, I worked at that chain of companies for 20 years. All because I met a random lady in a parking lot!

I have dozens more stories to tell, from every era of my life. I’m sure you do too. I’d love for you to map out your own life, and enjoy the magic of life affirming nostalgia. The Life at a Glance calendar is available until Jan 5 on Kickstarter here.

But if you do this, don’t just fill in the blanks. Do it with your spouse or kids or a close friend. Use it as a way to remember your life, the people you encountered, the places you visited, the things you worked on, the children you birthed, the day you turned your life around, the apartments you found, and the precious moments that make up this crazy thing called life.

Thanks and hope your year is off to a good start!

Dave