Hello Readers! Welcome to the first post of 2023. I think I should probably bypass the ‘Happy New Year’ greetings and jump straight into action! I do wish all of you the most prosperous, healthy, loving, and peaceful year yet- from your mind to your soul. I think all of us would benefit from a little extra TLC. Kicking off the new year is all about a fresh start, a reset, or even a new beginning. Let’s put aside resolutions (you know how I feel about those lol), and focus on setting the right tone as we come into 2023.
So many times I hear, ‘When the new year starts,” or “Starting Jan 1,” Don’t you feel that’s a whole lot of pressure to put on yourself on day one, let alone a whole year? Whether it’s January 1st or March 20th, or July 23rd- every day is an opportunity to start anew, to make a change, to grow, to be better, to fail, to get back up. It isn’t all meant to happen so quickly or meant to be life-changing on THAT first day of the month of the new year. That doesn’t leave room for much grace or hope. I prefer to treat the start of the year like any day, and instead do my best to start it on the right track with the things that are important to me, WITHOUT giving myself a timeline. As long as I’m reaching and working towards those goals I set for myself, then I’m going to be okay. Why? Because if I don’t, there’s always tomorrow.
You’ve heard me say on the blog before how much I dislike the term ‘resolutions’ if it’s solely applied in the new year. Again, it’s a lot of expectations to live up to and when you trip or fall, which happens to all of us, we often beat ourselves up and give up. That doesn’t help us. So instead, I just focus on my goals; what I want to do, what I want to accomplish, what I want to do less of, what I want to do more of, and what’s going to help me grow and be better as an all around human. There’s no timeline for that. Everyday is a new beginning; a new opportunity to figure it out and TRY.
What does that mean for me? It means my goals range from little things like drinking more water to bigger things like being more present and putting my phone down. It may mean that some days will be better than others, but overall, I’m setting good intentions and goals that I really want to work on everyday, but I also know that it doesn’t happen overnight. Learning to be kind with myself is another goal of mine, especially when it comes to experiencing shortcomings or failings. These are part of life and I’m very quick to dish the advice, yet I haven’t mastered that same kindness to myself. It’s definitely on my to-do list. Also on my to-do list? Practicing gratefulness and mindfulness. I do do these from time to time, especially with my kids, but I want more of it.
One good example is right in these blog photos. It’s hard to argue that New York in the fall is truly magical. The colors of the leaves, the brisk air, the warm drinks. I’m giving you a visual and a sense, right? When I was taking these photos, and running from location to location and changing from one outfit to another, I barely stopped to notice all the gorgeousness and change in my own neighborhood. Now, I do often stop and admire and take photos and smile, but in this instance, I was just running to ‘get it done’ and paying no attention. I think it was towards the end of the shoot that I finally STOPPED and looked around and was like, ‘wow, this is SO pretty. I live here. I get to walk these streets every single day. Im so lucky.’ That right there is mindfulness and gratefulness. It’s the simple yet forgotten act of just admiring something and taking it in.
Then when I got the photos, it was all even more magnified bc of the whole outfit! Everything felt just more alive, more beautiful, more captivating. There was change going on all around us. Things change, evolve, grow every day. And so do we. So don’t wait for a new year or the 1st to work on yourself, or take on a hobby, or go to the gym. Everyday is a chance for a new beginning and it starts with YOU!
In Style,
Kathy