2023 was a year that brought with it some of my happiest moments and most formative lessons.

I learned that some things are meant to stay and some things are bound to go. The tighter you grip, the faster they’re gone.

People will say things they don’t mean, do things you don’t expect and know things they’ll never say.

But there is nothing lost if you learn from it.

Conflict deferred is conflict amplified.

It is not love if you are the only one fighting for it.

Our willingness to fail is proportional to our potential to gain and to grow.

We heal and grow when we are loved well.

If I had to put 2023 in a nutshell, it’d look something like this:

• I walked
• I wept
• I lost my worries in music and literature
• I found my peace in the stories I penned
• I ran 519 miles
• I finished 2 books
• I watched Lord of the Rings
• For the first time in a long time, I felt happy and special on the day I was born.
• I held up mirrors
• I saw more of the world
• I kissed my dog
• I ordered the pasta
• I got the promotion
• I loved
• I learned
• I leaped

And I focused more on being a lamp, and a ladder, and a lifeboat.

So here’s to showing up no matter what and to fiercely venturing into the unknown pastures.

We’ll bleed for better reasons this year.

On to the next, friends.