Today I say goodbye to 53.
This was the year I took more risks with my heart. I opened up. I tried dating. I tried working in new ways. I looked into some mirrors and saw reflections that were not the highest version of myself, and I chose to return to the work.
I moved through the world with care.
I set boundaries, sometimes ungracefully, but I honored what I needed and wanted in the moment. I supported friends and family. I experienced joy, laughter, whimsy, disappointment, heartbreak, and deep, abiding love.
I traveled to places that brought me alive (the beach twice, the mountains three times, and a little in between). I took in art. I made art. I moved my company forward at a pace aligned with who I am now.
I celebrated big and small milestones with my community. I grieved losses and passings. I attended and hosted beautiful celebrations, for holidays, for people, and sometimes for no reason at all.
I met authors. I went to book signings. I sat in poetry readings. I saw a lot of live music (no shocker there). I loved my dogs (and everyone else’s) the way they deserve to be loved: unconditionally.
I asked for help. At least a few times. And I received it.
I raised a den of bunnies in my yard.
I became a more authentic version of myself. A lightmaker. A warrior of joy.
I gave and received countless hugs. I shed tears from sadness and from laughter. I laughed, a lot.
I watched some connections slip away as they completed their season. I felt others reignite. Gratitude.
I wore costumes. I was deeply silly, even in dark times for our country and our world.
I was more present than productive.
I reflected on the past with gratitude and forgiveness, for myself and for others. We are all doing the best we can with the tools we are given.
I continued to seek clarity and healing in the sticky, icky moments.
I know the best years of my life are still ahead of me, even if difficulty walks beside them.
I strive every day to be the highest version of myself. And when I am not, I give myself grace.
Not everything happens for a reason. But I can find meaning in what happens, and I can embody the wisdom from it.
I learned to love myself. I came home. Even as the wrinkles keep coming and I ate that whole delicious pie in one day.
Thank you, me, for the love, support, understanding, acceptance, forgiveness, and the ability to feel it all.
This next year will be one of softness. Flow. Co-creation. Love. Deep, beautiful, wide-open love, which is what the world needs right now. Do not shrink. Do not harden.
Rise in a way you never have, as a version you have never been. Open your heart to receive. No hustle. No proving. No climbing. No sacrificing yourself on the altar of achievement. Tomorrow begins another new chapter.
You’ve got this. Happy birthday eve, you.
xoxo,
Me
P.S. I’m sharing this not for applause, but for permission. Permission for you to look at your own year with honesty and grace. If you’re shedding, evolving, grieving, laughing, rising, you’re not alone. We’re all in this together.❤️