a year of confusion and clarity
2023 was beautiful and anti-climatic (and that's life)
when chaos catches up to you, you tug on it's sleeve and say, "thank you, dear friend."
I think 2023 is one of those years I’ll look back on in my 30s and say the famous line, that older, wiser people always utter “I practically stumbled through my 20s and had no idea what I was doing.” We all need those years. They teach us many secret things about ourselves.
A lot of things happened in my life that I’ll probably need to reflect more on with a macro lens. (Ended up redacting some of the negative things because, well, that’s what therapy is for).
I tried working at a job I didn’t care about for the money, which was a disaster and I’m so glad it’s in the past.
Spent 2 months in Japan and realized I liked some aspects of capitalism (wildcard).
My 22 y/o brother got married (in secret) and had a kid (which, i did know about).
Moved back to SF in a walkable, safe neighborhood. Moved in with friends, my partner, and became good friends with people in our neighborhood. Feeling the foundations of a thesis of finding community where you are rooted coming on.
Distanced myself from family members and friends that need to work through the difference between healthy and unhealthy love. This was a hard one, one I’m still working through.
Art-directed and designed a music festival with a friend :)
Had a zine I designed placed in my favorite art book stores in 3 different countries. And the Brooklyn Museum!
Picked up a fun job at a Northern Irish coffee shop. Felt aligned with local businesses who treat their employees well, and indirectly supporting my ancestors & irish traditions. Also, I am now able to pour cute latte art and pull pretty good espresso shots for my loved ones.
Held many zine-making workshops and a foraging workshop with are.na.
Read more books this year than any other year in the past decade!
Took my first creative writing / poetry class !!!
Taught myself how to crochet (and made my gf a wool hat)
Became more connected with history, traditions, and spiritual practices of pre-colonial Ireland.
I’ve been incredibly tunnel-vision since I graduated high school, with somewhat vague goals and a lot of energy to blindly funnel towards my aspirations. It worked for a long time, up until this past year. Which is when I realized that, um, that’s just neurodivergence. And that breaking down goals and tasks can take you much farther… feel less stressed… which I started half-way through ‘23 and even more clearly defined for myself this year. I think finding ways to manage my neurodivergence last year has made a major improvement in my life & expectations for myself.
This year, I find myself more focused on continuous improvement in running, reading, design, art, coffee, music, photography, and mental health. I feel less distracted by extroversion than I have in the past. I’m more interested in online spaces that are smaller, and more specific to interests & archiving — are.na, goodreads, perfectly imperfect, letterboxd. This year, I’m focused on creating tangibly experienced objects (books, clothes, music, coffee, food, physical art, interior spaces, etc) than in years past.
I’m excited for what this year has in store, for being more intentional with my time and energy. For documenting and creating more freely.
I wish you all the best in your respective journeys of purpose & meaning-finding. May it find you where you least expect it ꩜