Phoenix Blossoms

We made it. Another year has passed and as the dust settles, I can’t help but feel excited and keenly aware of how much I have changed. The final days of December always seem to appear out of nowhere, leaving little time or space to plan or send gifts. It gives the illusion that the year has flown by, when in actuality, this year did not exactly fly by. Sometimes it crawled, it dragged (with me being pulled along behind it), and at other times time completely stood still. Creating a vortex of achingly slow, repetitive daily living- prying my eyes open to all that I had created, all that I was holding onto, and all that I wasn’t yet, but wanted to be. 

This year was challenging, soul-stretching, and heart-breaking in the kind of way where you are broken open. The painful moments taught me painful lessons in how to be grateful for the smallest of things, to be mindful when things are good. The breakthroughs taught me that the suffering is not endless, the pain does not last forever, and when you keep pushing- eventually, something has to give. I have learned persistence, endurance, and modesty. I was forced to slow down when I thought it was my nature to speed things up, to create my desired reality from pure will, and to push beyond my humanly limits towards something “greater” than already existed in each moment. In each of these moments, I learned that I was wrong. In each of these moments, I learned what a beautiful blessing it was to not have all the answers. 

Ultimately, I learned that I am solely one, small person after all. Not in a way that diminishes my spirit, but in a way that frees my soul. Frees me from the judgements of my past self, the expectations of society, and the limitations of morality. I truly learned what it means to be based. Based in love, based in truth, based in honesty, acceptance, and positive intention. What could be greater than that? 2025, a year where I used a porta-jon daily, lived in an RV, and worked as a line cook. 2025, not the year where I accomplished anything grandeur- no diploma, no business started, no grand reveal. Yet 2025, the year where I owned my realness. A year of facing fear, every single day. A year of pouring love into myself, when I wanted to beg for my flame to be put out. A year of motherhood, solitude, and adding layers to my onion. Through peaks and valleys, this year taught me just how miraculous it is to be alive. 

So, thank you 2025. Thank you for the moments where you absolutely sucked. Thank you for the moments where you were kinda cool. And lastly, thank you for finally being over. I’m proud of not only who you made me, but who you helped me see that I truly am. I’m excited to see what that person does with 2026, where she will go, and why she had to be there in 2025. Here’s to a new year. May it be filled with blessings of peace, prosperity, love, and laughter from the farthest reaches of my soul to the most tender corners of your heart. So much love. Thank you.