A few takeaways from 2023
Whether your year was a blast or a blur...
If like me you find yourself in the surreal slumber of the week between Christmas and New Year, you're probably reaching that point. The point where you start to try and summarise your year, perhaps out of sheer boredom or, perhaps, resulting from a rare opportunity for reflection as you prod cold turkey leftovers with your fork (or toe, if you've moved onto the sofa and given up on dining standards altogether).
So whether your year was a blast or a blur, here are some of my own reflections that might help you make peace with it all and move on.
Envy
In all honesty, after the experience of cooking up and birthing a human I don't think I will ever experience my old feelings of not doing enough. Thank f**k. Bye. See you never. However. Perhaps inevitably… we all experience envy or wish for things that other people have, at least sometimes. “The grass is always greener,” - that kind of stuff. I admit, I've been gullible to thinking someone is really nailing it, when I'm myself sat sulking in the gutter. To this I say: "No more". If you envy someone else's brain/body/circumstance, the best thing you can do is channel that envy (instead) to the best version of yourself and work towards carving that best self out. Not in a self critical body-shaming kind of way but in a you're-the-best-you've-got-work-with-what-you-have-and-make-it-shine kind of way.
What other people think
Life is too short to be uncomfortable, particularly in front of others, which – unless you're a hermit – is a lot of the time! For me it ranges from things like thongs and high heels (i.e. being uncomfortable in my own body) to being friends with cocky attention seeking people and doing karaoke (uncomfortable socialising). For you it might be something altogether different. The bottom line is: you do you. Get comfortable. Itch away that itch. Pick that nose. Ignore that invitation to a thing you hate doing. YOLO.
Vulnerability rules!
The best things in life are unfiltered. Whether we're talking emotions or apple cider vinegar, vulnerability pays off. Let yourself pour out into the world exactly as you are. Share yourself exactly as you are. It always works out in the long run, despite the risks of showing your underbelly. Not in getting more people to like you (I see you, people pleaser!) but in helping you feel more like your true self in the world: breathing fully from the belly, aligned with your inner world, bold in your presence and sure of the steps you take because you're walking to your own tune and no-one else's.
What made my week
What went right in 2023
A much-needed boost of positivity amidst the human tragedy that dominates the news headlines. Nothing can make it right of course but this helps a little.
Self-care
This article in The Guardian by Ellie Violet Bramley on the growth of faux self-care culture resonated at this time of year when businesses take advantage of our winter blues and the wellnessy aspirations we seek to mask it.