Finding Ease with 2023
Some personal reflections on the year
We’re in that weird liminal space right before the New Year where normal routines are out the window and 2024 is somehow a long ways off but it’s only 3 days away (!?!). In North Carolina, we had two consecutive days of steady rain and dense fog. I didn’t leave the house and I ate a lot of Christmas cookies. Finally the weather shifted in favor of clear skies, sunshine, and above-average temperatures. As the weather cleared, I similarly felt a sense of clarity which inspired me to do some reflecting on 2023.
If you’ve been following my newsletter then you know that this past year for me was all about the big move my partner and I made from California to North Carolina. We took an enormous leap of faith with the hope that relocating would offer new opportunities and a change of pace. And even though everything went well — we managed to simultaneously sell our California house and buy a new house, the cats survived the 5-day car ride and are now thriving, and we both like our new jobs — it took a tremendous toll on us physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially. I literally don’t know how I would have survived without my tools (meditation, yoga, strength training, spending time in nature, venting to friends and family) and I still feel like I’m recovering from it all.
Another big leap of faith I took this year was creating Finding Ease. It’s been great to have a creative outlet to post videos and articles. So, thanks for being here! And stay tuned for some new offerings in 2024!
If I were to describe 2023 in one word, with all the opportunities and challenges that I’ve worked through, it would be self-trust. I developed a deeper trust in my intuition and my body, as well as confidence in my ability to find new communities, opportunities, and ways of being.
Having trust in yourself sounds simple, but it can only be built through doing hard things that end up transforming you on the other side. Having trust in yourself also requires letting go of other people’s ideas and expectations, which is not easy if you’re a recovering people-pleaser like me!
Here are some other miscellaneous things I did this year:
Published two articles in scholarly journals and submitted three more articles and one book chapter for review. Most were collaborations with some pretty amazing librarians.
Met a corpse flower in bloom.
Made ghee (clarified butter) for the first time.
Got a friendship conch piercing during a conference in St. Louis.
What challenges did you navigate and move through this past year? How did they transform you (for better or worse)? And if you could describe the year in one word, what would that be?
Wishing you ease during the last few days of 2023.
Your description of the changes you have experienced this year resonate with me. I have realized some professional goals, including co-leading a month-long study abroad seminar in Vienna, teaching/redesigning new and previously taught courses, and chairing several labor-intensive committees. While I feel like I have made positive contributions to all of these things, having so many things happen at once has been an interesting challenge for me. You made decisions to allow for more opportunities in your life, and, while everything went well, the process did take a toll. I have had a similar experience but am still working on ways to find balance--to find ease. I have struggled with shifting out of intense work mode, and my racing mind has prevented me from listening to what the rest of me has to say. I am working on ways to avoid my habit of being physically static and machinating. As I heard you say once, I am trying to remember that I do have a body. Here's to prioritizing this process in 2024!
My word for 2023 is intensity--
Thanks for your words, Veronica!
The fact that you have been able to find ease this year, given all the upheavals you have experienced, is both inspiring and sustaining to me as a reader. Here's to a great 2024!