New year, new whatever?!
I’m not a huge fan of planning ahead – I quite like to bimble along and see where the road takes me – but I also like to give myself some stepping stones for the way ahead.
By chance I was awake in the middle of the night just as we entered the new year – fireworks woke me up and then my brain switched on! I used the bonus middle-of-the-night time to jot down some thoughts about the brand new year.
I wrote that 2023 is my year for ‘re-braving’.
The idea came from Jeff Brown who wrote:
“I am re-braving, after a difficult stage that un-braved me. It is my hope that 2023 is an opportunity for all of us to restore ourselves, and to re-brave ourselves. A re-braved humanity will not tolerate anything that obstructs our possibilities. A re-braved humanity will craft the world of profound possibility that is our individual and collective birth-right.”
Whether we read that on a global level (as intended) or an individual level, I think it is a really positive idea to carry forward with us. And even if we only focus on the individual aspects of re-braving, we will surely create a force for good along the way.
Living a half-life:
I also wrote that I didn’t get through breast cancer to only live a half-life. I don’t have a strong picture of what a fuller life would look like but I know that for a few years I’ve been hiding & holding back & stopping myself from feeling, so I’m going to work on that this year.
So in the early hours, with these thoughts as my guiding light, I jotted down some things that I can/will try to include in the coming 12 months.
In no particular order (apart from the first one which is top priority right now!)
Here’s to 2023:
- rehab my feet – I hate having sore feet because it impacts so many things that I like to do but I’m also not very patient so this might be an interesting battle!
- walk 1000 miles in 2023, and hopefully also walk 100 miles every month (feet allowing!)
- take better care of my teeth
- reconnect with my body – forgive it for having cancer; pay attention to how it feels and what it needs from me; support it with breathwork, sleep, nutrition, kindness; apply moisturizer occasionally!
- keep taking a photo every day – now on year 8 of doing this! (you can find them here if you’re interested)
- get a passport because there’s a whole world out there and I’d like to explore more of it
- cover some more miles on the Pennine Way – maybe another week-long section or perhaps the rest of it (feet allowing!!)
- journal one line per day (some of them have been quite deep thoughts but one day I simply wrote ‘tired today – that’s all’ – either way I like having a record of my day)
- take my Mum back to Yorkshire – I don’t know where she wanted her ashes to go but I reckon the highest point in her home county is a pretty good spot, so she’ll be hiking up Whernside with me at some point this year
- feed myself – books, food, education, music, cinema, art…
- move house and find a new view
I like to think of all these things as gentle ways to make good use of the year, rather than things which I achieve or fail to achieve. Just a few stepping stones across the river of life. A chance to celebrate being here. An opportunity to be more present.
In the past five years I have lost both my parents, which is obviously significant, but I think the recent death of my Dad has somehow set me free to be who I always meant to be. Not that him being alive stopped me being me, but I no longer see myself reflected in his eyes and I feel lighter as a result.
Perhaps 2023 will be the year that I finally get brave, and step into my body and take up the space that I’m meant to take up…#watchthisspace