2022 was difficult for many people. I was lucky because most of my struggles last year were of my own making. And while I didn’t accomplish many of the things, I set out to do, I ended the year surrounded by the love of friends and my family and I don’t think it gets much better than that.

When I reflected on the year and thought about the word I wanted to choose as my foundation for 2023, as often the case, I kept returning to one that seemed obvious.

em·brace

/əmˈbrās/

to take or clasp in the arms; press to the bosom; hug.

to take or receive gladly or eagerly; accept willingly:to embrace an idea.

to avail oneself of:to embrace an opportunity.

to adopt (a profession, a religion, etc.):to embrace Buddhism.

to take in with the eye or the mind.

to encircle; surround; enclose:a secret garden embraced by wild shrubs.

to include or contain:An encyclopedia embraces a great number of subjects.

My goal for 2023 is to embrace my skills and talents. I want to lean in to the things I know I’m capable of doing. I want to embrace the community of friends and family, both figuratively and literally, around me as I’ve come to terms with the idea that the people in my life are there because they want to be. There is no reluctant obligation to do so. I don’t want to come to terms with getting old. I want to embrace it fully. Marveling at all of the amazing things this next stage of my life has to offer.

Here’s to 2023 and embracing the most authentic version of myself!

Photo by Alex Shute on Unsplash

New year, same me. Or should I say, slightly better me? Last year, I chose unpack as my word of the year. I knew that there were things I wanted to and desperately needed to unpack- grief, guilt, and shame are the heaviest of them. And while I have stopped making resolutions, I think that having a word of the year to focus on has been essential in helping me reach some goals and set some great habits in the last few years.

Usually, the word comes easy for me. This year was different. I started thinking about it in November and nothing seemed quite right. I have a few specific goals and lots of changes I want to make but they are so different from one another that finding a word that encapsulated all of it was a struggle for me. Ultimately, I made a list of all the things I thought applied to the way I’d like to feel about myself and this year on December 31, 2022. The word that kept coming up was PROGRESS.

noun

/ˈpräɡres/

1: forward or onward movement toward a destination.

2: the process of improving or developing something over a period of time

intransitive verb

1: to move forward

2: to develop to a higher, better, or more advanced stage

One of the things I’ve learned over the last year is to give myself the same grace that I would extend to a stranger. It’s funny how we can be kind and understanding to people we don’t know while lobbing harsh criticism and toxic words at ourselves. Perfection is not attainable. I’m not even sure that it’s something to be lauded and upheld as the standard. It’s the journey on the way to be being our best selves that holds all the good stuff- the hard lessons learned, the challenges overcome, the rethinking of the goal. It’s almost cliché at this point to say “Progress not perfection”. But, that is my goal for this year. Progress towards my better self in all ways both large and those that are barely imperceptible to anyone but me.

Here’s to forward movement, to improving, to being better in whatever way that looks like to me! Here’s to 2022 and to progress!