Happy New Year 🪩
The end of 2023 came in a blur that was simultaneously as fast as a tornado and as slow as slug. Full transparency: just a few weeks after kickstarting this Substack again, I found myself (unexpectedly, happily, unbelievably) in the throes of my first trimester of pregnancy — nausea, exhaustion, and all.
I don’t know if I’ll ever feel comfortable with such a “public” announcement, after a year of loss and losing hope that these dreams of a baby would be realized. With all the typical first trimester symptoms, I also slipped into a prenatal depression: a concoction of anxiety, worry, and hopelessness that only time would eventually shake.
So: fall’s grand plans for writing sprints and voracious reading flatlined as my energy levels reached lows I never thought possible. (I would literally cry at the thought of having to take a shower, a seemingly mountain of a task at the time.)
By the end of October, I had entered maintenance mode quickly and unexpectedly: moving just the necessary things along on the work and home front, paring down holiday commitments, and letting my godsend of a husband take charge while I was sidelined (baby and I are forever grateful).
I am feeling so much better now, though still don’t feel out of the woods, despite being in my second trimester and with all signs pointing to a happy and healthy fetus 🩵1
New Year’s has always been a favorite holiday, and the promise that January brings is always so irresistible. So, let’s begin again.
I usually like to spend the quiet days between Christmas and New Years grounding myself with allll the reflection, journaling, tidying, and planning. That was not in the cards this year with a family vacation—a different kind of rest of and relaxation, though more physical than mental.
So, I’m starting this new year a bit late! No word for 2024 picked, no resolutions, no reflections on the year passed. I have a feeling some of us are in the same boat (and joyfully choosing not to engage in such fatigued traditions).
Here’s where I’m focusing my 2024 reflection and visioning this month:
Filling out my YearCompass with my new blue pens. (Can’t wait to get to the section on magical triplets — I love thinking in threes!)
Tuning into how I want to show up as a writer this year with Caroline Donahue of
’s Your Writing Year 2024.Creating a 2024 Pinterest mood board. I did this for 2023 and added to it throughout the year. It’s so fun to incorporate the visual with the verbal.
A tarot spread for the year ahead: one card pulled for each month, and one for the year. This tradition started several years ago, and it’s always so fun to see how the cards seem to *know*. For example, in 2019 my card for the year was “the lovers” — and on December 21st of that year my guy proposed ✨ Here’s my spread for 2024, with another little easter egg right off the bat.
Drumroll please…. We’re reading Free Time: Lose the Busywork, Love Your Business by
!
This book club pick is one close to my heart.2 I was an early reader and developmental editor for Free Time, so Jenny’s words and wisdom feel like a familiar hug. But now for the first time, I am digging in from the pure perspective of a reader and implementer, ready to follow this path to a more heart-based way of working and creating.
Free Time offers a values-aligned framework for readers to move from friction to flow, and free up more time for the work that matters. While written for the small business owner and those with “delightfully tiny teams,” I believe anyone leading a creative and multidimensional life can learn a thing or two (or a million!) from this book.
It’s a perfect pick for harnessing that new year energy and resolution to do things differently in 2024: with more soul, more intent, more love. And for me in particular, I’ll be reading with an eye toward designing what maternity leave and life with a baby looks like when you’re self-employed.
Jenny Blake breaks down the Free Time Framework in three parts, a perfect pace for a season-long read. Here’s the reading schedule — the end of each chapter offers a “Do (or Delegate) Next” step, which I’ll be looking to implement in real time, and report back throughout the winter. Excited to see everyone else’s progress and aha-moments too!
January: Part 1 - Align (your values, energy, strengths)
February: Part 2 - Design (for outcomes, impact, and process)
March: Part 3 - Assign (all about the who, what, and when!)
Personally, I’ll aim to wrap up by March 22, Free Time’s two-year publishing anniversary 🩵
Everything else living in my brain rent-free
An upcoming closet renovation this month means a much-needed wardrobe clear out (of course
’s Anna Newton has a timely system for this!).Ready to find my next “project watch” — more than just binge-watching a show or a season, I see project watches as a deep dive into a cinematic world. Last winter I made my way through the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Previous project watches include all of Game of Thrones ahead of the first season of House of the Dragon, and everything in the Sex and the City franchise. Thinking this time around I’ll start Star Wars. Any other recs?
Anna: The Biography by Amy Odell. An excellent inquiry into one of the most fascinating figures who has shaped our culture for decades (and isn’t stopping anytime soon). The details of Anna Wintour’s focus and drive in her career makes this book an apt read for Capricorn season.
An ongoing in/out list. It’s the new year’s trend that we will likely look back on as “so 2024.” I’ve been keeping a notebook page open on my desk to add to mine as I think of them, instead of trying to squeeze them all out in one go. Here’s what I have so far. (I think my favorite so far is pasta/fake pasta. What are yours?)
2024 is only just beginning. How are you honoring this fresh start?
The heart emoji that I will be exclusively using until further notice ;)
My team also worked closely with Jenny on the book brand, cover, interior, and layout design! You can check out more of the behind-the-scenes of making this book here.
Here’s to a reset that suits where you are now! I hope the Your Writing Year planner supports you along the way -- thank you so much for sharing it. And sending lots of hopes and fairy dust for a safe rest of your second and third trimester to come.