Five Years a Writer

Do you see it rushing past, out, through the door? That’s 2023 gathering momentum to leave us in its dust, while we gather our own selves and get ready to step into the next year, the New Year, into 2024. But hang on. First, let’s take a moment or two to look back on 2023 and consider the highlights, the challenges and the learnings of the past 52 weeks. The idea comes from mental health podcaster Mel Robbins ’ (hyperbolically titled) workbook “Make 2024 your BEST year” and, while the title left me cool cold, I like that her first step in looking ahead is looking back to consider those three things — highlights, challenges, and learnings. So, at Robbins’ suggestion, I took out my (old fashioned) paper calendar and flipped through it to remind myself of webinars attended, writing deadlines met, essays published, and also of personal highlights like trips to visit my mum, buying the new car, and booking the front yard refurbishment. It was a good exercise which I completed as a collage ...