Wrapping It Up

I may not have fully embraced the holiday season yet, but one thing I do love about this time of year is my newish habit of taking the time to slow down and reflect. To think about the highlights of the year, what I learned, and where I am now. To look at the year ahead, at what I’d like to do differently, and at where I’m going. To express gratitude for the year that was and optimism about what is to come.

I already discussed the highlights of this (ahem) interesting year here.

Here are some of the things I learned, or was reminded of, this year:

Joy is in the small moments. Happiness is a tapestry of these moments woven together rather than a destination.

Every storm does run out of rain (thanks, Maya Angelou).

The Universe does not dole out adversity on a quota system; you are not owed “fair”.

When you let go of fear, love abounds.

You can let go of people who are committed to misunderstanding you. You can put down the burden of needing to be right.

Time does not “heal” grief; it transmutes it into something you can live with.

Abandoning yourself for others is disrespectful to all parties, and especially to you.

You will have to process the same trauma multiple times, each time on a deeper level.

Radical acceptance is the key to peace, and it is also extremely challenging.

Unconditional love heals.

Sometimes doing nothing is the most productive thing you can do.

Worry is a colossal waste of time.

Healing need not be so serious; there is plenty of room for humor and play.

It’s probably no surprise that, having spent four months on the couch (if you haven’t already, you can read about that here and here) and slowly returning to the land of the living, I’m not where I thought I’d be when I did this review at the end of last year. There are some goals I set and plans I made that I’ll be carrying over to 2025:

Finishing the final first draft of my memoir and taking steps to get it published.

Growing an audience for my writing.

Getting back to swimming regularly (weather, killer mosquitos, and my inability to clean the pool means it’s taken much longer than projected).

Setting aside weekly time to do those tasks that seem onerous but often aren’t and absolutely need to get done. In an effort to be more positive, I’ll now be calling it “power hour” (something I saw on social media) instead of “torture time” (my twisted invention).

Getting to Toronto/Niagara Falls and Cape Cod.

Setting aside Fridays for an outing to enjoy a museum, arts venue, nature area, or other creativity-inducing break.

Along with my commitments to get back in top physical condition and serve as part-time personal assistant to the CWP, those should keep me busy.

In looking toward the coming year, the first thing I do is choose a mantra, sort of a theme for the year. I believe last year’s mantra (“open up”) was instrumental in positive change in both my personal and writing life. After much consideration, I’m going with “choose love” for 2025. Choose the loving interpretation of a situation, choose the loving response, choose love over the current climate of hate and division. Above all, choose to keep loving myself, regardless of what my inner demons or anyone else tries to tell me.

Finally, I’m going to try to adopt the three “life changers” I saw suggested on social media (I’ve got to get better about attribution; I scribble these things down haphazardly and their provenance is lost forever):

1)      Make it “the year of” (a huge change like quitting a bad habit, publishing a book, etc.)

2)      Schedule six adventures (something you wouldn’t normally do that stretches you), one every two months

3)      Establish and maintain a new habit quarterly

This week I’ll be putting the finishing touches on those plans and preparing for a banner year.

Wishing you all a new year full of peace and blessings beyond your wildest imaginings.