A Whole New Year

Photo from Elevae Visuals

As I’ve been reflecting on all that 2023 was, I realized how short-sighted we get at the end of the year/start of a new year. Maybe you think about health goals for the new year because you only remember that you’ve been eating more & lounging more the last month (roughly since Thanksgiving.) You forget that you’ve been eating well and moving your body often all the weeks before. Maybe you feel like you did nothing this year and it was ultra boring because you haven’t take a vacation since school started back this Fall – but you forgot about the three trips you took earlier in the year. Maybe you feel like your house is an absolute wreck because you have three boys home from college right now, but they’re gone at least 9 other months of the year and you miss them every day.

I guess I’ve just been realizing that I do this too. So I did something at the end of 2023 (which as of this writing was just yesterday and the week leading up to it) that I hadn’t thought to do before. I went on a photo hunt.

You know how we have these little rectangle devices in our hands 24/7? If you’re anything like me, you take pictures of your entire life – from outfits & makeup to random signs and meals you eat. Sometimes I don’t even know why I’m taking a picture of something but now I do! It’s a scrapbook. It’s a memory book. It’s my actual memory sometimes, like now.

I scrolled back to the first picture I took in 2023 and then kinda quickly scrolled through the rest of the year, noting things I’d done, eaten, read, etc. 2023 was so much more than Nov. 23 – Dec. 31. I mean, duh, right? Here’s some of what I found:

  • A wedding that kicked off the new year, and a whole new life for my friends
  • Discovering new authors
  • Reconnecting with high school friends
  • I love taking pictures of flowers
  • Lots of Beautycounter, including my first trip to our LEAD conference in person
  • Continuing to grow in my faith
  • So. Much. Family. Time. (this is the majority of my roll and it makes me so happy)
  • New recipes that landed a spot in our regular meal rotation
  • The Eras Tour
  • Martha Stewart on the cover of Sports Illustrated SMH
  • Trips: ATL, the beach, Dollywood, Biltmore, Charlotte
  • Concerts & movies & plays

The best part of looking back through my pics vs watching a 30 second reel of highlights was that I got to relive it all. The good, the bad, the ugly. Yeah, sure, there’s stuff that’s hard to see or I might wish didn’t happen. But it’s my life. I think there’s a healthy amount of looking backward we can (and should) do before we look forward.

I was saying earlier on Instagram that I haven’t felt this big shift with a new year coming like I sometimes have. It really just feels like another day this year. But I’m really excited about 2024! I’m always excited about a new year, month, week and day. Haha, I love a fresh start as much as the next type A gal. But I don’t lament the past. Even the hard stuff.

Cheers to 2024, friend! I pray that it’s all you need it to be, all year long.

Similar Posts