The informal definition of a post-mortem is “a discussion of an event after it has happened, especially of what was wrong with it or why it failed." (Thanks, Cambridge Dictionary. But no thanks for the ad for the hoodie that looks like a man’s hairy chest. Hard to miss and harder to forget.)

In my theatre experience, the post-mortem after the show closed was all about making the next one better. We’d discuss systems, timing, personnel, marketing, everything involved with the production, to learn from it all.

There are so many moving parts of a production, and both left- and right-brain information needs to be created and shared with the team, revised, updated, acted upon. For me, it’s a delirious, joyful, roller coaster ride, and what do we know about roller coaster rides? You do NOT want to eat your churros, ice cream, and popcorn, just before getting on.

The biggest take-away from the post-mortem of our well-loved “The 13 Days of Halloween - Invisible” podcast series (still available wherever you get your podcasts) is balance. All of the components deserve attention and care, and so does the laundry. And the day jobs. And returning library books on time. When daily life and self-care are thrown in at the last minute, you get the queasies.

(So, yes, in this imperfect metaphor, daily life and self-care are the churros, ice cream, and popcorn.)

Here’s to balance! Here’s to being flexible with plans, even while being committed to them.

We have some fun ideas up the sleeves of our lab coats. You can look forward to more from our space alien friends at H.A.B.I.T., another chilling and insightful 13 Days of Halloween series, and some new one-off short audio fiction. We are always looking for new ways to express our Life Lab Notes mission: to show the world a picture of itself. We humans are all made up of the same stuff. We have way more in common than not. We can learn from each other, accept each other, and leave peacefully together.

Happy New Year, and remember - the New Year rolls out a day at a time. Each day can be a resolution renewal, a resetting, a recharging. Hit refresh on the web page of your life now and then!

From all of us here at Life Lab Notes, all our best.