last year: lessons i learned.

so this is kind of late, but who cares :)

these are a few things i learned in 2023:

i learned how to say i’m done, i quit. and how good it feels. i’m not saying everyone should quit things they don’t like, but i am saying that you should consider quitting everything you’re doing and see how you feel about it. what would you miss about it? why don’t you like it? is it you—could you do better, or is it the thing itself? just considering this is so empowering. at the end of the day, you need to choose to do the things you do. doing something because someone else wants you to isn’t going to go well, unless you choose to do it. don’t be acted upon, use your agency and follow your intuition.

i learned that we don’t just feel or think things in our mind, we feel and think physically, in our body. i felt that when i quit things—i could feel a weight lifted off me. i felt that when i finally let myself feel not ok. i felt that when i felt the stress of doing too much make me get super sick. it’s real guys. do something about it before it hurts you.

i learned how to deal with pain. how to wake up and feel absolutely awful but still go to school or do the day and know that it’s gonna get better, and even if it doesn’t, you can still get through the day, because living through pain is rough but it’s possible.

i learned that sometimes things are good in different ways than we expect. read my fsy post bc i really go into this and a lot of these other lessons but fsy as well as a lot of other experiences showed me how i can drop my expectations a little and be okay with it not going perfect. because really what does?

i learned how sunshine makes me feel alive.

i learned how i really need a day a month to just sleep.

i learned how seasons come and go, and bring with them different people. sometimes we need to be open to having people come and go, or change in level of relationship. this is so hard for me, but it’s been good to experience. we can learn so much from everyone we meet, and from all the various relationships with all the amazing people that God sends into our lives. this year really concreted my testimony that God will never leave us alone. He is always sending me a new friend when i need one. sometimes we just need to be open to different people or changes than originally imagined, because chances are, they’re going to be better than our ideas.

i learned so much about emotions. how crucial emotions are physically. how repressive i am of my emotions. how much focusing on your breath transforms your experience of anything. how releasing and honoring and sitting with our emotions we’ve ignored is one if not the most beneficial thing we can do for ourselves and everyone we encounter.

i learned how to plant celery and weed like a pro.

i learned how to sing. (like someone actually talk me stuff about singing. yay!!)

i learned that some things are okay, but they burn you out. for me, sports were a great thing to try, but took so much time and energy, and really burnt me out physically as well as creatively. i stopped doing the magazine, and just other creative stuff. but then after i quit, i wanted to start the blog. and the podcast. and do more art again. it’s kind of crazy how that works, isn’t it?

i learned how to teach little kids how to swim.

i learned how to be okay with things not being okay.

what did you learn last year? last month? this week? did anything i shared resonate? let me know <33

see you all soon!! xo, kate