Hi friends,
How are you doing? It’s been a little while since we last spoke, I did that classic thing of getting excited about a creative project (short story writing course), wanting to share all the things, doing so briefly then getting overwhelmed and needing a step back from sharing.
While this does make my ‘showing up’ online a bit sporadic, I’m learning this is totally OK. Unlike when I had a business I was trying to promote, I now have a much looser relationship with being online, choosing to show up when I have something to share.
And I’m here today to do just that - share some recent musings and a challenge I’ve signed up for to kick off 2024.
As this year saunters to its end, I’ve found myself thinking about next year. In fact, if I’m being honest, I’ve been thinking about next year since summer sizzled out. Dan and I have both been feeling a yearning for something new. Friends, family and co-workers all seem to be ploughing ahead in this thing called life, making big changes - whether that be marriage, buying houses or having kids. Though we know we don’t want that, we recognise we want… something.
One thing in particular being a pet (dog or cat… or both). When we moved into our current flat, we were saddened to learn there was a no-pet policy for the building but sucked it up and put pet ownership on the back burner. After a couple of years here, we’ve decided next year, we want to prioritise getting a pet. This will mean moving and this fact has opened us up to further questions - do we want to stay in the town we’ve been in for five+ years? Are we ready to move elsewhere?
This desire for ‘new’, honestly, stems from a sense of stagnation. I’ve grown to dread the question, “What’s new with you?”, feeling awkward as I mumble, “Not much, same-old, same-old!” Stopping the conversation dead.
I’ve realised recently this isn’t even strictly true. My thoughts immediately turn to work when asked this question, but why don’t I tell people about the short story course I’m taking? Or the fact I’m on a 65-day streak on Duolingo learning Spanish? But perhaps that’s a topic for another time.
Alongside the possible move and pet purchase, this stagnation is encouraging us to move forward with an idea we’ve had for a big trip to Japan. Travel is something we both love, but haven’t really explored. So 2024 could be the year we do it.
It’s funny, when I reflect on my word of the year for 2023, ‘ease’, I’m reminded that stagnation was kinda what I wanted for the year. I wanted to settle into where I was, enjoy work, have space to rest, let my body possibly return to where it once was energy-wise. And I did exactly that, it’s just that by the end of summer, the ease transformed into stagnation.
I already know the word I want to use to pull me through 2024 (in fact, I’ve already started using it) and that word is ‘onward’. Totally inspired by the film Nyad where a marathon swimmer in her 60s decides to complete a challenge she couldn’t complete in her 20s, the word ‘onward’ was tossed between swimmer and coach as they pursued a seemingly impossible goal.
As soon as I finished watching the film, I opened an email I’d left unread from Beat, the eating disorder charity I volunteer at, and signed up to a walking challenge they were promoting. Taking place in London at the end of January, the Winter Walk will see me walking a half marathon to raise money for Beat. To some, that would be a piece of cake, to me it’s enough of a challenge to make the butterflies in my stomach take flight. But I couldn’t get the phrase ‘onward’ out of my head, and what better challenge to help me put this mindset to the test?
Another phrase that came to me recently (during a journaling workshop with the brilliant
) was ‘stepping out of stagnation’. I had to chuckle at this as I realised my walking challenge is going to help me do exactly that - step out of stagnation.So, all of this being said - I’m already feeling fizzy with anticipation for next year. We’re ready for change and while we may not tick everything off our list, it feels exciting to know we’re at least stepping forward.
If you’d like to sponsor me and help to raise money for a charity that offers so much to those struggling with eating disorders, you can do so here.
I’ll be back soon, I’d love to catch you up with the short story course (which I’ve now completed!) and probably share more reflections because hey, ‘tis the season.
Until next time, take care.
Kat x