Hello world

Hello, my name is Kris, and this is a new blog I'm starting.

I turned 38 a few days ago. My Taiwanese fiancee and I submitted our K1 visa application a few weeks ago. If all goes well, she'll move to America and we'll be married within the next year, with one or two kids on the way not long afterwards.

Right now feels like the calm before the storm. I'm going through my everyday life as usual, but I know there are some huge life changes on the horizon, like clouds gathering in the distance. During this impasse between the two halves of my life, I've been doing a lot of reflecting: how far I've come, and how far I still have to go. What I still need to do to prepare for the huge responsibilities that lay ahead of me.

What kind of husband will I be for my wife? What kind of father will I be for my children? How do I help them reach their potential, to become the best versions of themselves? How do I enjoy every day with them as much as possible?

I think a blog could be a useful way to gather and work through my thoughts. To reflect on and distill what I've learned. To sharpen my thinking as I navigate the journey of marriage and fatherhood. To leave behind a body of wisdom to enrich my children, grandchildren, descendants, or anyone else who stumbles on it and finds it useful.

But I can write about some fun stuff as well. It can be easy to start taking yourself too seriously, writing deep stuff about life and marriage and parenting and religion and philosophy and all that. Something that has become increasingly clear the older I get is that we should enjoy the ride, because it ends faster than we think. I've realized that the most truly wise people also tend to be the most joyful.

Life is a mixture of the sublime and the mundane, the profound and the absurd. So I guess it makes sense this blog could reflect that.

Anyway, let's see where this goes.