Hello, friends.
I know it’s been a while. I’ve been doing most of my bloggish writing over at my newsletter and so I haven’t been writing as much over here.
However, I wanted to share some updates and changes coming in 2024, as well as a short reflection about the year and… my word of the year for 2024. (Because that has always been a blog post, and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future.)
2023 has been quite a year. I just spent the last 2 hours writing about it in my journal, and while so much of it was a challenge (a bad bout of bronchitis, a bad reaction to medication, another illness, repeating vehicle issues, challenges with getting my new Studio up and running, a 2 year old - and all that went with her, etc.), ultimately it was also a year of growth. A year of transformation. Or, as I dubbed it in said journal… a rebuilding year.
My word of the year for 2023 was Celebrate. I was hoping to have a year focused on good things, reasons to celebrate, joy and happiness. And to be fair, that was all there, but not quite in the way I expected.
I did in fact get my own Studio. And while I’m still bringing it up to what I want it to be, and though there are still issues that have not been addressed in the 6 months it’s been in process, it is mine. It is running. I am back to teaching in person, I have some incredible new students and some wonderful returning ones, and plans for what I’m aiming to do. My 2 year old is now newly 3, and is already showing a maturation she has not had for the past year. She’s turning into this amazing little person with her own thoughts and opinions, her own insights, her own love and joy. She was so fun at Christmas this year, the best so far since she’s been earth-side, and I trust that it’s just a taste of things to come. Those illnesses became the impetus to kickstart a weight-loss that I’ve struggled with for the last several years. I am now down 40 pounds from where I was less than a year ago, and I’m feeling so much better and healthier. My car, though currently in the shop, did get me to and from some lovely moments with dear friends and safely shuttled us in our daily routines and travels.
I have also committed to, and maintained, the creative lifestyle that I’ve always been wanting. I have several projects currently in process and due out next year. I started my newsletter in May and have kept with it every month. It has become one of my joys. (I’d love to see you there!) I have slowly begun writing some new music, which I hope to get more into next year. I have read and reviewed 82 books - 20 books past my 62 book goal for the year. I am in the middle of reading a friend’s manuscript and am so excited for this world that he’s created and being able to share in it. As I mentioned, I’m back to teaching my lessons in person, and my Studio has an area that will be a permanent Dove and Blackbird pop-up shop. I am in the process of shifting around my e-commerce and online presence. I have plans for events, classes, and workshops that I hope to launch next year. I have made some new friends, deepened my connection with some old ones, released old attachments I no longer need, and embraced new loves and passions that unexpectedly presented themselves.
So on the whole… I really am thinking this was a rebuilding year. Maybe not the big call for celebration that would normally accompany such a word, but certainly not without its joys. Despite the challenges, (even the ones that continue), I am grateful for what this year has brought. And I am very much looking forward to what 2024 has to offer.
Which brings me to my word of the year for 2024.
Magic.
One thing that kept coming up this year was how “celebrate” focused on so many tangible things. I am someone who loves and believes in magic, and this year, I just wasn’t really open to it. It was there, surely, and made itself known many times. But it was not where my attention was, and I have missed it.
Next year, and into 2025, there will be some major astrological shifts - in general, and for me personally. And with everything this year has been, I can see where things are headed. Where they’re going. I have acknowledged areas where I fall short. I have identified things I need to work on. And much of it… has to do with being open to a little magic. To the unexpected. To great and wonderful things. To the forces of the Universe doing what the forces of the Universe do and being aware and appreciative of it.
In order to do that, I wanted to call the focus to it by making it my word of the year.
And so, here’s to a new year. A new paradigm. A new energy. A new battle cry. An embracing… and celebrating… of the wondrous and magical pieces of the Universe and all they can bring to this world.
Wishing you a beautiful and magical 2024.