Reflection // Projection 2024 - 2025

Thank you to Justine Duran from In The Grey for providing me with these reflection questions as part of our work together and for allowing me to share them here.

Think Deeply

What was the most inspiring/exciting part of 2024?

Traveling to so many new countries and new parts of the world - my favorite was by far going to Montenegro because I feel like it really changed my friendship and relationship with a good friend of mine and helped me understand her and where she and her family come from even more.

What was your favorite meal of 2024?

When my friend Peppe (Plates by Peppe) cooked for us during my brother’s and sister’s-in-law visit. His food is always incredible and there is something about getting to sit down with the chef to enjoy the food he just prepared that is extra special.

If you could describe 2024 in one word, what would it be?

Healing

What was a way that you connected to your body for physical, mental, and/or emotional connection in 2024?

I started lifting weights. This is something that I’ve always been really intimidated by but I finally pushed myself to get into a habit and to learn more about it. Feeling strong is one the best things to come out of 2024 and has allowed me to connect with every part of my body in ways I haven’t before. Towards the end of 2024, I also found ways to reintroduce yoga and relearned how to balance strength and softness, which is what I want to focus on in my emotional health in 2025.

Did anything happen this year that fell out of alignment of the life you want?

I feel like there were too many instances where I chose to fall back into anger instead of leaning into softness because I allow my anger to cover my hurt and it is the easiest and most convenient emotion for me to access. So I use it as a shield and as protection from what I actually should be accessing in order to heal and move through experiences instead of trying to simply move around them.

In regards to fashion, art, music, is there any piece that really stood out to you in 2024?

Literally the week I worked on these prompts, a friend sent me this video of Sara Bareilles and Rufus Wainwright singing “She Used To Be Mine” and I haven’t been able to get it out of my head so that is what is immediately comes to mind when I think about music or art to sum up 2024. This song is about a woman thinking about all the versions of herself she hasn’t been or she could be and I feel like this is what my journey has been lately — thinking about who I am, how I got here, who I haven’t been. There is grief for the girl I have said goodbye to, celebration for the woman I have become, and longing for the woman I could still become.

What person or people did you have to let go of in 2024?

I had to let go out people, or even just the parts of people or relationships, that are incapable of being happy for or celebrating the things in my life that I celebrate. My life doesn’t look like I thought it would 5 years ago, or even 2 years ago. My priorities have changed and the things that make me happy and that I focus on have changed. As those things have shifted, the people around me have also needed to shift if they aren’t able to see me as I am today instead of older, outdated versions of me.

What was a transformational moment you had in 2024?

We were in Marseilles, France for the Olympics in July and stayed in an Airbnb with the absolute kindest host (who happened to be half-Italian). I was chatting with him and he was asking about our life in Italy. He asked if I worked as well as my partner. I said that, no, I am a stay-at-home-mom and do some freelance work but that because of agreements between Italy and the US it’s actually pretty hard for family members to work while living in Italy. He simply blew his lips and said, “well, why should you work? You’re young, you have a beautiful child, you live in paradise. You should enjoy it. You should live.” This is just the absolute antithesis of the mentality I grew up with and still often press up against, that I am not doing “enough” or working “hard enough” in my day to day life. But that night, sitting on the beach with my partner in the south of France watching my son eat madeleines and play with little French kids throwing rocks in the water, I felt nothing but complete in my life.

Favorite scent, smell, fragrance of 2024? (This could be describing the smell of street food at a market, the beach in Greece, etc or an exact perfume/oil/soap)

The smell of the pine trees as we walked down to Red Beach in Bar, Montenegro. My best friend had told me how strong the smell was and how nostalgic it was for her, as it reminds her of her childhood spent there with her family. The smell made me think of her and it felt warm and loving. When we were in Delphi, Greece later in the year we were surrounded by the same pine trees and I immediately thought of Anja and felt like she was with me.

Open the Portal

Who was a person or people that you deeply connected with in 2024?

Myself

What is something that had been a project/goal/intention you still haven’t gotten to yet? How can you change that this upcoming year?

I want to find a true hobby. Something I can sit and do simply for enjoyment. In 2024, I got outside a lot for hikes and walks, but that was partially motivated by wanting to exercise. I want to find something that is only for fun and to make my inner child happy. I’ve thought about bigger things like horseback riding (something I did competitively from ages 6-18) and finishing my scuba diving certification and smaller things like finally learning how to crochet.

What part of the world has been calling you to travel to?

We have loved everywhere we have gone so far in the Balkans and I would love to see even more: Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovinia

What word comes up for you when you think about 2025?

Softness

What are you working on that’s exciting to you in 2025?

I am playing around with the idea of sharing even more on my blog (travel, motherhood, yoga, fitness, life coaching), getting a personal trainer certification, or going back to life coaching and really diving into starting that practice

Portal is Open

How do you want to love and be loved in 2025?

I want to love and be loved openly and honestly without contingencies.

Is there anyone you’d like to connect with more in this upcoming year?

My partner. I want us to date more and move away from just parenting and taking care of our to do lists.

What hobby or new learning are you hoping to invest more time into in 2025?

Horseback riding and scuba diving

Intention Statement

I make an ode to myself that I intend to pick myself up when I stumble, because I will, and approach myself and those I hold close to my heart with tenderness and without judgment as we navigate the new year because I owe it to myself and those I love to show up as the best version of myself as often as I can.