It’s that time of the year again. People from different parts of the world celebrate the beginning of a new calendar and with that comes a whole new set of goals and dreams. I personally feel motivated and even challenged by this collective ambition to become better humans year after year. It is yet a new opportunity to grow, learn, and unlearn. I have also realized that as humans, we often need closure on many things; relationships, careers, family relations, eating habits, lazy habits related to inertia, etc. The new year offers infinite time and space of reconciliation with our lives, our relation to the world, other people, and nonjudgmental reflections of ourselves that may easily vanish as the new year begins. 2023 looks fresh and feels promising. It is the continuation of our lives with the label of 2023–it is a new and renewed layer of “me-ness.” I appreciate this blogging space because it offers me the space to express my gratitude for life and the people around me, for my dreams that are never-ending and always exciting. In addition, I have grown to be grateful for the not-so glamorous times–the sad and anxious moments that I go through (and I am assuming we all experience) because each year I have learned that those are the “flex moments” or the moments that stretch us out to grow into what we want to become. This may be an unconscious stretch if we don’t train ourselves to see and feel, however once we start to peek into it, we realize how life is beyond the “good” “bad” “sad” or “happy.” Life and living go well beyond these simplistic and packaged adjectives. This new year can be everything we want to be or nothing we want to keep being. I believe in the vibrations of the universe and when the community around me is vibrating high and powerful, so am I!

Let this 2023 be the beginning and/or continuation of our hopes and dreams, of starting our blogs and businesses, of starting a family and/or buying property, of traveling the world or road tripping across the country, of learning a new language, of smiling more to strangers who need it, of letting go of the pesky habits and thoughts, of controlling your emotions before they control you, of cooking more meals and sharing them with your loved ones, of enjoying the small and simple things, of enjoying nature and what makes the world go round (literary), of crispy wine and delicious whiskey, of hole in the wall bars and michelin star restaurants, of book stores and enchanting books, of family and friends who rock this world…

Happy 2023 and the continuation of dreams of all content and sizes. May this be the year we all look back and smile with pride, nostalgia, and fulfillment. Salud!