Receiving
Happy New Year! Five days into the year and, possibly like you, I am thinking about how I'd like 2025 to take shape. There were parts of 2024 that were exceptional and there were parts that were stressful. Ironically, some of what made the year exceptional were also the aspects that added stress, but such is life.
When I think about what I'd like to see for 2025, my mind keeps coming to the word "receive."
Me on the Brooklyn Bridge last year during the kids' spring break
In the past, I have picked a one-word theme to inform the year ahead. In 2017, which was the same year that we opened Sugar Hill Creamery, "local" was the word that came to mind at the start of the year and boy did I integrate that theme.
When I think about the application of the word "receive," I want to position myself to always receive help when it is offered to me. I believe doing so fosters connection and in turn builds community with those around me. I want to receive feedback when it is offered so that I can improve in my personal and professional life. I want to receive all the blessings and life gifts that are meant for me. And, most importantly, I want to receive myself in all ways, which basically just means accepting myself in all my imperfection. Radical self-acceptance is one of the purest forms of freedom.
Nick trying to encourage Nico to do karaoke by singing at the New Year's Eve gathering we attended
I planted some seeds in 2024 that will hopefully begin to bear fruit this year. I'm hoping the year will also make space for some house projects that will make what I call, "our trap house safe for kids" into a home again. These children have tagged, soiled, and punctured so many corners of our place since COVID; I'm ready for new life. Nick and I are setting KPIs for the business for the first-time really, so it feels exciting to see what comes from it. Folks have asked if I'm still coaching and while I am still working with a handful of clients, I don't promote it anymore, because I want to focus the majority of my attention on my first business and reserve what's left for those who are locked into reaching their goals.
I am excited about what this year will yield. I'm glad it's not starting the way 2023 did. As I make all of my plans and set my intentions for what I hope this year will be, I'm also reminded that being present and not rushing towards the next goal will be important for me not to feel like 2026 is on my heels. The kids' head of school says that time moves faster when you're over-scheduled and busy. While these are two adjectives that could easily describe me, I do want to savor 2025 and how I move through it.
I hope your year is off to a start full of intention, care, and promise.
Petrushka
Your Local Ice Cream Lady & Life/Business Coach