What I Want to Remember as 2024 Ends
Because we all know the year was a blur.
I love this time of year, but maybe not for the reasons you’re thinking. I love the holidays, but I’m not huge on the actual Christmas side of it. I am not a Scrooge, but I think I am a bit different from my mom or sister. I could happily not watch a single Christmas movie or listen to any of the songs and still feel that holiday spirit.
See the reason I love this time of year is that it is basically built on…okay two things: capitalism (you know it’s true, we can roll our eyes together) and nostalgia. My true love.
I just love a good reminisce! I love to ruminate! I LOVE REFLECTING!
I tend to overthink on the bad things, so maybe that’s why I love to look back on the year and gather the good things. Because I am the friend who takes many, many photos, it’s pretty easy to remember all the good things. After all, chances are you aren’t taking photos during your lowest moments (although I will always love a mid-cry selfie, and you’re welcome to my selective few who get to receive these).
This does tend to cause me to paint the past year in rose-tinted shade, but I don’t mind that much. I think we can be too hard on ourselves, and if we do get to control what energy we are bringing into a new year, I personally think it’s okay if it skews positive.
And I know I’m a bit early, as we still have a few weeks until the new year but I plan on spending the final days wrapped up in a blanket, forgetting what day it is, and reading as many books as I can.
Anyway, let’s ✨reflect.✨
24 Moments and Musings I’ll Carry into 2025 (in no particular order)
It is always okay to lose some sleep because you’re finishing a book.
I have always been a fan of taking pictures and this year I really tried to use film more and also picked a few other types of fun cameras. I take a lot of comfort in taking and looking at photos, even if they’re just silly ones. There’s the practical reasons like life moves too fast blah blah blah but also it’s just damn fun.
Not surprising to literally anyone, but I sleep so much better when I do my skincare/audiobook routine and have a clean room. I want to make that happen more consistently!
That sweet, sweet dopamine hit that comes from shopping is short-lived. I have no idea how I’ll force myself to stick to it, but I want to do a lot less shopping next year. Even with books! Shocking, I know.
Free bookmarks continue to bring me more joy than what one would think was rationally possible.
As I get older it gets more and more apparent that I am not in the majority when it comes to family relationships. We are so close, and I love going home for the weekends and hanging out with my parents (I also love when I get to hang out in the hot tub with a book but you get it.) It is not something I take for granted, and I admittedly forget not everyone has this.
The mute/unfollow buttons were my MVP this year. Founf myself giving less and less about if it will ‘offend’ an acquaintance (or co-worker/family member etc.) to do so and the relief of just shutting someone up is too damn good. Respectfully.
Rest is becoming increasingly important (am I old?), and it’s better to say no once than for a whole week.
Cooking is…not a strength of mine. And food delivery is so damn easy. I am sure I won’t become a chef in 2025 but I would like to be in the kitchen more.
I am working on being better with change. Also working on not caring as much about change that I can’t even control anyway.
Rejection is a pain in the ass but more often than not this year, it lead my exactly to where I needed to be anyway.
I will continue to take pictures of the sky. Google did a nifty thing and looked at all my photos of the tear and then showed me what colours turned up the most. I wasn’t surprised - the sky and plants are ALWAYS in my camera roll, and red is my favourite colour.
Ice cream can fix almost anything.
I finally published the damn book that’s been sitting in my files, and I am still in awe of how it came together. And how stores carry it. And how people from all parts of my life have it on their shelves. If you have the chance to review it on Goodreads, I would be thrilled.
Work is not personal (well it can be for some, but I am trying to move away from that thinking).
Sometimes people are friends, and sometimes people are people that you see now and then.
Poetry readings are my favourite way to share my words (I’d like to do more in the next year, but I am very happy I did a few this year.
I did go through a fraction of a physical change this year, and really lost momentum lately. Since I’ve had a bit of a break from the fitness/healthier food choices routine, I can now say that it positively affected my mental health too AND I need to get back to it.
Nothing is that serious, at all.
Now I know I don’t want to be spending as much, but solo dates are so underrated and I kind of fell out of going on them after summer. Even though my spare time tends to fall to more traditional date nights these days, I’d like to bring back the solo ones. I love alone time.
You know that saying, to be loved is to be seen? That’s a saying I think. Actually, I just googled and it is ‘to loved is to be known,’ and I have found myself in a relationship in which this shows every day.
A rainy day in BC is always better than a rainy day here.
I have slowed a bit on my tattoo adventures, but that’s more consideration kind of these days…honestly based more on the fact that I feel like I’m running out of blank space. I think I’m going to have to start on my back, but that makes me hesitate because I love seeing what I’ve gotten, and that’s a bit more tricky.
I made an effort to romanticize the shit out of 2024, even the smallest of things. Sometimes the world is on fire and I want to ignore that by stopping and smelling the damn roses. And having a cute little coffee that might be cold by the time I finish it, but that’s fine too. If you take anything at all from this list, I hope it’s this one. It helped me reframe so much in the past year and I will be carrying the mindset into and beyond 2025.
I can’t promise this will be the last time you hear from me this year, but that’s the plan. I have a bit more time to write over the holidays, and I really should make more use of the trusty draft option.
Last thing! Have you signed up for my book club yet? I’m a little biased, but I’m very excited about it.
Until next chapter,
PS - if you reply to this email (or any) I can email you back! Just in case you want to chat :)
Scrolled to the bottom? Relatable. Here’s some fun stuff for ya:
📚 What I’m reading: I am desperate to hit my goal of 75 books, and I’m behind. I haven’t started to worry yet though! Here’s what’s in rotation:
🎶 What I’m listening to: ‘TIS THE SEASON! Spotify Wrapped lacked this year, but my most listened to songs of the year playlist kinda made up for it. Kinda.
📆 What’s up next for me: I’m slowing it right down until next year. I can share though, that my book is now available in stores in Toronto and Midland, with more to come!