Thank you 2023- Reflections on this incredible year

With just 5 days left, I am already blown away by the year that I've had. So many things have happened this year that it feels impossible that it has only been 12 months! 

I feel an incredible sense of accomplishment- I did things in 2023 that I have challenged myself to do for a long time, and this year I was able to maintain the clear vision to be consistent, be focused, and to power through. It hasn't all been rosy: unexpected health setbacks, loss of loved ones both unintentionally (passing) and intentionally (boundary setting), mental health roadblocks, professional challenges have all come in to play this year. It is one of the reasons why I am especially glad that I have kept routine journaling as a key part of my life. It's great that I can see that a decade ago I had my wrist surgery for my ganglion cyst (how has that been 10 years already!?) but now I can see developments from week to week and appreciate that I now have 4 years of weekly journals to look back on. Journaling consistently means that I am not just making entries when I'm particularly down, or up, but also capturing the moments in between; when I simply am. And those are the entries that I am beginning to treasure the most because they remind me that life isn't always a sweeping pendulum, but rather a stock ticker with slowly rising or lowering stock prices on any given day. 

This year I FINALLY hit my target of 20 books for the year! I have been on this goal since about 2011. I last hit the full 20 back in 2012 and even in 2020 when I thought I would do so much reading during lockdown, I barely cracked a single book. I had major revelations as I made my way through Atomic Habits, Kevin Hart's "This is How we do it" and The Subtle Art of not giving a f*ck. I was on the edge of my seat reading Family Money and One of Us is Dead. I found my celebrity perspective shifting as I read Casey Wilson's "Wreckage of my Presence" and Julia Fox's "Down the Drain". I giggled my way through Nearly All the Men in Lagos are Mad and Awkward Black Girl...But I have to say that the book that had the biggest impact on me this year was The Art of Living- I have never felt so at peace and so present since the gift of the words in that book. I am so in awe of the incredible authors that exist, and the openness and vulnerability they share by putting words on the page. What a gift being able to read is!

2023 is the year that I hit my 7th continent! Making it to all 7 continents was an ambitious goal I made for myself in 2019 as I looked in awe at the Sydney Opera House. In spite of the pandemic that impacted travel for 2020 and most of 2021, I am so thankful that I have made it happen this year as I touched down in Antarctica, my final continent. Visiting a new place is also a goal I have for myself each year, and this time I was able to get to 4 new countries/territories that I had never been to before- Antarctica, Spain, Cuba and Costa Rica. I love that 2 of those were experiences with my husband and son. 

On the tech front I finally made it past the 1 year mark with my tablet of choice- my Galaxy Fold 3! After the false starts of the last few years (Surface Duo, iPad Mini, Galaxy Tab 7) it felt fantastic to be able to lean into a solid device and be assured that it would do everything I need it to. I've been my most productive, my most creative self with this device. I would also have stayed with my S22 Ultra as my phone but in the spring my selfie camera had become so scratched up and cloudy that it was unbearable. I moved to the S23 Ultra in May and can see myself making a long go of this phone, too. My laptop quietly hit its second year anniversary and continues to be fantastic. More on my ongoing Samsung love affair in another geeky post later 😁!

With that, and a myriad other items only fit for my personal journal, I am bidding 2023 a fond farewell and am so open to all that 2024 will bring. Here's my highlight reel- thank you for being part of this year, even if just by reading this!