Things that feel good right now
What has my attention as we gently move into 2023.
I’m writing you all from my couch, out sick on my first week “back” from holiday. This isn’t the first time I’ve come down with a virus in the first breaths of the new year, and I’m beginning to think that the universe schemes, finding a way for me to stay home and really sink deeper into this limbo time. And I’m not against it. I actually welcome it. There’s a lot to process during the closure of one year and shifting into a new one, and we need this time to deeply rest. For most of us, the holidays are not a restorative time, and usually perpetuate the frenetic movements that our society so dearly clings to, and so, the time between Christmas and New Year’s Day becomes the real opportunity to let it all go. But that week always zips by way too fast—the books we planned on reading lazily on the couch, and the long walks around the neighborhood in soft pants quickly gets replaced by sitting upright at a desk, staring at a computer screen with an overloaded inbox, fighting our desire to rest in this exhausting and relentless structure. I’ll be honest. I am never ready to get back into the rush on January 2nd, and I always need more time to settle. Because everything always feels different in those first few weeks of January.
I don't know if this resonates with everyone, but for me, 2023 came in feeling really…fresh. Like solid ground after three years of dragging my body through sticky mud, a chance to place my feet on solid earth after being out to sea with no signs of land. The span of time from 2020-2022 felt like one big mushy, foggy mess and I for one am very certainly over it. I’m ready for something different.
And I think we’re getting it. The energy of this new year feels powerful, and made itself known way before January 1st. I like to think of the energy that comes in doing so in in waves—each cycle moving in with specific vibrations that we will exist in and learn from. They are not defined by a 12-month calendar, but rather respond to a larger trend of movement on the planet. 2023 feels like a new energetic vibration. It feels as though it is asking us to familiarize ourselves with the new “us” that has emerged from the chaos of the past cycle. It is asking us to be curious, to have a little less structure, to have fun with this newness. We’re allowed to get messy, because perfection is actually the antithesis of being a human, and we are re-learning this. The energy also has a feeling of closure. It’s asking us to shut the doors on what no longer serves—and add a padlock. What’s in the past is passed, and it’s now time to invite in the greatness that is waiting for us to step into on the other side of the door. I have been spending the past few days journaling about what I’d like to step into. Who am I becoming? Who have I already become? The theme of grief I have been riding for the past couple of years suddenly feels less looming, and the days I spend grappling with those losses are dwindling. I am ready to build some serious momentum towards this newness, and play with the unknown. Onward and upward.
The things.
This FORECAST on the energy of 2023 really resonated with me. It was as if Nadine reached into my soul and pulled out exactly how I was feeling as we entered this new year. I will be using these words as a navigational tool.
I loved this MUSING on why making resolutions in the middle of the winter works against us, and why we should mimic nature’s rhythms.
This DOCUMENTARY made me cry, and my heart swelled with so much love. Humanity is incredible. Watching this documentary reminded me of how powerful we can be if we come together and lift each other up.
I just finished reading Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto by Trisha Hersey and the book is covered in gems. So much to ponder, and so much that resonates. I especially loved her point that we don’t have to earn rest. Rest is your birthright.
And, THIS IS THE VIBE. Seeing this change play out in real time is so incredibly powerful and makes me grateful to be on the planet at this pivotal time.
Speaking of moving into new ways of thinking and being in our society, THIS has me really going.
I’m halfway through the book Breath, and there is some valuable info in these pages. A lot of the studies cited in the book are a bit fringe, the basic idea of working with our breath to achieve vitality is so fundamentally lost in most Western cultures, and this has to change. Within my Kundalini and Vinyasa practices, I have experienced a small taste of what breath work can deliver. The simple idea of investigating how we breathe has interested me in the past few years, so I’m loving this deep dive. Let me know if you read this so we can discuss!
Lastly, THIS lights me up. I’ll meet you there.