Newsletter Archive, Farewell 2024: all the feels + eggplant and potatoes dancing in my head

Dear Reader,

Congratulations, you made it through the first part of the holidays! Well done! Alas, it is now time to say goodbye to 2024. And, I don’t know about you, but I plan to effortlessly step into 2025 with smiles and gratitude. What are you up to? I hate that question way less these days because I’ve learned that I don’t need to shout my way in to a new year, make a spectacle, nor create claims that I cannot adhere to. Quite frankly, it’s all too stressful, the clothes are too tight, I’m bloated and my shoulder hurts. I’m at my parents house right now, so my evenings are primarily spent negotiating cookie deals with my father, in an effort to get him in the shower, and convincing mom to watch a movie that is NOT on the Hallmark channel. This is 44.5 years of living (single)!

My mantra (at the moment) is “2025 will be a great year because I will make it so.” I have vowed this to be my year of NO. If something doesn’t align with my values, I am removing it from my life. And, since I’m not a believer in resolutions, nor am I one to say, “The diet starts on January 2nd,” “I’ll go to the gym 6 days a week” or “This is the year I work my ass off to get that BIG promotion!” Instead, I will commit to what makes me feel good.
What makes you feel good? This isn’t a trick question, and it doesn’t require a complicated answer. I love gold glitter, sunrises and coffee. I can easily commit to enjoying all of the above with friends and family - if not, on my own. Perhaps I will even lay nude in a pool of gold glitter. Watch me, or, don’t.

Committing to what makes us feel good can be the smallest and most important step we can take towards walking home to ourselves. The repetition of acts/habits/moments that make us feel good creates new muscle memory and new neural pathways. Ready to pave a cozy path for your brain to travel down as opposed to cruising old roads and habits? Do you want a different feeling or outcome in some part of your life?

Example: Thank you, self, for the new virgin road. You may feel lonelier than the slippery slope of sex and chronic dating, but you’re quiet and healthy for my self-esteem and nervous system.
What’s a new path you can commit to? What do you enjoy doing? What do you believe in? If it’s gold glitter, bath time, Hallmark Movies, healthy living, writing, trapeze swinging, your dog, God, Yetis or Batman - talk to it / them / do it. I talk to God just about every day. Well, Him, my Uncle Anthony and Grandma; and when I shut up and listen - they send me stories. I also write them letters. I no longer consider quiet time a punishment, it’s something I believe in. And, sure, I talk to myself, dead people and God - but it’s also honest. Who are we, really, if we’re not honest with ourselves and others?
This isn’t a love note about changing yourself in 2025, although the above can lead to change. These are just some prompts to make you think. What do you want - for you? I want more peace. More time. More simplicity. More love and the ability to give and receive it. More cooking and reflecting. What’s in your year of NO? How can you eliminate what’s unnecessary in your world?
Need help answering the above questions? You can opt to get out a piece of paper, a pretty journal or a shitty journal (writer’s choice) and, then, make a digital vision board. As much as I love collaging, I enjoy the digital aspect of Pinterest boards because they suit my lifestyle of less clutter and I don’t need to ask myself the ultimate question, “Will this fit in my suitcase?” 
Your answers need only fit in your heart (and your heart only). Can you see yourself in the kitchen in 2025? If so, there are some tasty treats below to get you started.
With love and happy almost 2025!
Tina