One Week of Quiet

Taking this time to ponder the new year and maybe get a little radical.

I hope you’re all having a good week and enjoying this quiet moment before the world wakes up again.

We - Mom and I, Sam and Coco - celebrate Christmas, and my gift giving philosophy is generally, “one for you, one for me.” If I like something, Mom will usually like it too, and so we each end up with a gift. (I don’t wrap mine, I’m not crazy :),  just keep them out of sight until she opens hers.)

There was some of that this year, but one gift Mom wouldn’t have loved was my new set of ‘80s song misheard lyrics coasters. Favorites include, “She was a fax machine, she kept her modem clean,” and “like a virgin, touched for the thirty-first time.” Hahahaha.

I made so much food for two people that I’ll be eating Christmas dinner for every meal until I leave on Sunday. Which isn’t the worst problem, since the batch of baked ziti was an especially good one.

Where I’m leaving to is India for three weeks and what is sure to be an extraordinary experience. This is my last post until I get back, but I’ll share all about it then.

I’m literally flying into 2024, which is an interesting way to start the year. If you’ve been reading, you know I’m thinking a lot about fresh starts and trying to somehow regain a sense of freedom and joy that has been missing for a very long time.

One thing that’s definitely been missing is fun. There has been seemingly zero fun happening over the last years (barring fabulous highlights like the big road trip to New York and back, and of course Tanzania, Uganda, and Scotland).

Which led me to remember that a huge part of my joy is travel and exploring. And then I realized something deeper, which is that I feel guilty for admitting this. (WTF?) There’s this naggy voice in my head saying, “you should feel that freedom and joy when you’re home! You shouldn’t need to go somewhere else to get it!”

And I should! And want to! But my first road trip was at the age of one, for crying out loud, and travel has been core to my happiness since then.

So I’ve been thinking about next year, and some truly exciting projects (the NGO, the National Parks, the Arts South Dakota board, coaching), but I hadn’t even considered travel. As in, I get home from India and then it’s buckle up, little soldier. Time to get to work. Don’t even think about “fun.”

But this morning I thought, hold up. What if I looked at the new year and instead of work first, put the travel and adventure first? And then fit all the projects around that? I mean, I work for myself, so don’t I have that option?

(Cue naggy voice: “Nope, you don’t. That’s too much fun. Nose to the grindstone, lady.”)

What do you think? It sounds corny, but I sincerely want to know: are you building in fun and joy for 2024? Shouldn’t you be? I’d love to hear. And - HAPPY NEW YEAR. Talk to you late January.

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