Hello friends,
Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and happy solstice to everyone celebrating this past week. And to those of you for whom this time of year is difficult, I hope you're indulging in some hearty self-care. I'm thinking of you.
A few days from now, we'll enter a new year and a new decade. It's a strange time. At 27, I'm at that point in my life where I'm not, by any means, old. But I am at a point where I look back on certain things and think, "Wow, that happened forever ago."
This past year has been simultaneously one of the worst and one of the best. Then again, most years feel that way. Sometimes I think we're all just doing the same thing over and over until we die. There were times this year when death seemed like the easiest thing. I didn't want to die, exactly; I was just so exhausted and beaten down that I wouldn't have been upset if I went to sleep one night and never woke up again.
Even so, I started writing again this year. I returned to the person I wanted to be so many years ago. I found hope in the dreams of my childhood. I still have a long road ahead, but I know, at least, that it's the right road.
I hope you all head into the new year—and the new decade—with the same desire and trust I have in my own journey. We've all had a tough time, in one way or another, but I have faith in our ability to make better lives for ourselves. In fact, I'd love to share some positive moments from the year (or the decade) in the next email. Hit reply and tell me something amazing you did.
Until then, Shabbat shalom,
Yardena