You know that joke about how "January was a long year but we made it"? Yeah, I never feel that one. In my current job I hit the ground running with either a conference or a national sales meeting straight out of the gates the first week of January and after that the entire month feels like catch-up as the rest of the world got to use that first week to ease back into a working routine after the holiday break.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I'm posting my End of 2024 questionnaire now, 19 days into 2025. Such is life. Without further adieu - here we go, with a favorite year end tradition of mine.
1. What did you do in 2024 that you'd never done before?
Two new countries - traveling to Prague, Czech Republic and Krakow, Poland.
Went sailing and captained the sailboat myself.
Took a pottery class.
Attended the US Open. (Women's finals!)
Visited St. Augustine.
Traveled back to London 22 years after I lived there and explored old and new parts of that grand city.
Saw a lot of theater/shows I'd never seen before.
Wandered art galleries in SoHo.
Visited a podiatrist's office, multiple times.
2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
My word of 2024 was Clarity. (Reader, she did not receive clarity in 2024.)
Other tangibles for 2024 were:
Make my smartphone work for me instead of working for my smartphone.
I do think I did this. Yes, of course, I feel into scrolling traps like everyone else but I made a conscious effort to set that damn thing down and leave. it. be. I even got into the habit of wearing a classic Timex watch so I could know the time without looking at my phone.
Focus on one thing at a time. Remember not everything is urgent.
Worked really hard at focusing on one thing at a time - this world DOES. NOT. WANT. you to be able to do that so I mean it when I say worked hard.
Travel back to London for the first time since I lived there in 2002, see Prague, and maybe(?) Berlin.
Yes, I got back to London! Went to Prague! No Berlin, but magical and beautiful Krakow instead.
Write.
I took several online writing classes. I'm sort of back into morning pages...sometimes the rhythm is there, other times I fall out of the habit.
Create for the joy of creating.
There were fleeting moments when I was successful at this....at the very least I was more aware at opportunities to do so which counts for something.
Stop being my own harshest critic.
I *tried* to silence that ol' inner critic. Easier said than done at times.
Volunteer at least 12 times a year.
I gave blood in January, 2024. That was the first and last time I volunteered for the whole year. Zoinks.
******
My word of the year for 2025 is Selfish. Obviously I don't mean that in the negative sense, but more in the put mySELF first - my physical health, my mental state, my needs. I have a tendency to be a people pleaser and I try to be all things for all people. This year, I really need to prioritize ME. As my friend said when I told her my word, "it's self - with a side of ish."
In the spirit of selfishness, my self does not want to make a laundry list of goals. I want to tackle some things this year that I know need tackling and let's see what unfolds for the rest.
So here, just a light dose of Tangibles. The rest we leave up to the year ahead.
Italy, Fall of 2025 on a yoga retreat.
Ride horses.
Keep writing.
Find a way to give back.
Read books that I want to read, not books that I think I *should* be reading or that get all the buzz or ones that come heavily recommended from people I don't align with reading-wise.
Indy knows 6 good tricks that he can do with solid regularity. I'd like us to figure out what #7 will be.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My friend Emily had her 2nd child, a baby girl, in December. Another friend finally gets to wear the Mom badge after a lot of years of trying, her baby arrived via surrogate.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Oh, thankfully no.
5. What countries did you visit?
The Czech Republic and Poland.
6. What would you like to have in 2025 that you lacked in 2024?
No feet/plantar fasciitis issues!
More family time.
Time. Just more time to let unfold what's going to unfold instead of lightening fast days whirling past.
My own car.
More living space.
7. What dates from 2024 will remain etched upon your memory and why?
Indy turned 2 on April 11th.
Traveled to Europe late spring.
My birthday - because you always remember your birthday.
November 3rd - the day I had to start wearing a walking boot for my poor left foot.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Looking at my phone less. Not checking Instagram every 2 seconds. Getting back to London and seeing two new countries.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Rushing through so many things because there were so many other things waiting on the other side that needed to be taken care of/completed. Time is the scarcest resource.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
As I have hinted at, 2024 was not the year for my feet. Particularly my left foot. (Daniel Day Lewis movie, here I come.) I ruptured my plantar fascia tendon sometime in the year, probably late spring, and we finally figured out the issue at the end of October. I've been in a walking boot for over 2 months, beginning November 3rd. It's about as a fun as it sounds.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Theater tickets and plane tickets taking me to a new destination, always.
In Krakow, I fell in love with the jewelry they sold with amber from the Baltic Sea. I felt like I might be buying too much jewelry while we were over there - it was all very reasonably priced - but I will tell you every single piece makes me so happy when I wear it now that I'm home, I don't regret a single item purchased.
Also, during the Black Friday MADNESS this year -which sucker-punched me hard in 2024- I treated myself to a purse that is more expensive than my usual tote-bag carrying self permits.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Donald Trump
14. Where did most of your money go?
Living in this impossibly expensive, impossibly wonderful, impossibly frustrating City of New York.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Traveling to new places/new destinations.
Seeing friends.
Good theater.
Teaching Indy new tricks.
Anytime with Indy, honestly, let's be real.
16. What song will always remind you of 2024?
anything by The Avett Brothers.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a)happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?
a) happier?
b) fatter?
c) poorer.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Writing. Just sitting and being, letting days unfold instead of tackling to-do lists or being distracted by all the things that want my attention all of the time.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Worrying.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
I was with my Mom and her corgi love, Tully, in Georgia.
I will say that I am always grateful for that week in between Christmas and New Years when the whole world just sort of hunkers down and days lose all meaning.
21. Did you fall in love in 2024?
With Indy? Only, um, every day.
22. What was your favorite TV program?
The Americans!
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
No.
24. What was the best book you read?
North Woods by Daniel Mason.
25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Ask me about Swept Away, the musical, when you have a spare thirty minutes. I knew all the music already as it is all of The Avett Brothers's songs, but the musical rearranged them in a whole new light. AND I was lucky enough to hear a stellar cast - including John Gallagher Junior - sing them. Could not get enough.
26. What did you want and get?
Time with friends. All the theater. To get back to London, to see Prague. To get to Maine in the summer. To write. To read. To think all the thoughts and feel the feels.
27. What did you want and not get?
A partner. A family of my own. That illusive thing called Clarity.
28. What was your favorite film of the year?
The Holdovers. I also really liked American Fiction.
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 45 - halfway to 90! My birthday fell on a Saturday with perfect weather which was a delight. I went to yoga, I saw a matinee performance of Sleep No More with two friends which was a TRIP, we had a quick cocktail after the show at a roof deck bar, then met other friends for dinner at Jack's Wife Freda. My whole NYC girl-gang contingency showed up for dinner and I felt very loved and happy.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Less worrying. More definitive clarity. More time.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2021?
I wear a lot more pants and jeans than I did before Covid times now that I work remotely.
32. What kept you sane?
Indy. Yoga. Writing. My friends. Central Park. Being in New York City. Getting out of New York City. The theater. My family. Good art, good writing. Boston.
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Again, ask me about Swept Away and John Gallagher Junior.
34. What political issue stirred you the most?
The election. Sigh.
35. Who did you miss?
My Grandma. A lot.
36. Who was the best new person you met?
I already knew him before 2024 but my Boston acquaintance turned NYC friend Brett, became my #1 theater buddy. I love going to shows with him and we are both always up to see anything and everything - if it's on a stage, we'll go.
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2024.
"Because every day is all there is..." Joan Didion said this to a New York Times reporter, explaining why she used her "good" china for routine, everyday meals.
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
"I know it gets dark, but there's always a light." - Ain't No Man by The Avett Brothers
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