Dear reader,
There is a reason why the New Year is celebrated in the dead of winter. There is no visible sign of growth or life in the natural world around us, but we come out dancing in sequined dresses and our best suits. While the bears are sleeping away their hunger, we break open champagne.
When everything around us turns dark and scanty, we make it a point to celebrate the good times gone by, the things we learned, and the fact that we can do it all over again. We come together, we feed each other, we kiss, we hope for the best that’s yet to come. We give ourselves that hope and renewal as a way of survival - because when everything around us is so upside down, hope is the only thing we’ve got left.
For me, writing has been that survival in the world. This newsletter has been an exercise in that hope. For 2024, I’m hoping to keep it more consistent - and be more courageous about sharing it with people all over! If you’ve enjoyed it so far, please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it too. If you have some notes, send them along! For those of you who have, thank you all for your kind messages and comments. I’m grateful for every single one of you <3
Before I sign off, here are some tools I’m using to expand my hope into vision:
Notion: A digital notebook with infinite pages, AI tools, and so much more. I use this for literally EVERYTHING. Journaling, planning newsletters, plotting out my year, habit tracking, and everything I need for work.
Freeform: Apple’s version of Miro is easy to use, wonderfully flexible and incorporates nearly all forms of media so you have one gorgeous all-in-one moodboard.
Headspace: I haven’t been meditating nearly as much as I should this year, and every time I did - I felt the world melt off my shoulders. Time to get back into it!
A good old journal: For when keyboards can’t underline how I’m feeling accurately enough.
Bonus: Hopefully, oodles and oodles of patience for myself - holding my own hand while jumping into things I never thought I’d do :)
Wishing you all a happy, empowering, peaceful 2024,
Kaav.