New Year, New Adventures

Wow, it’s a new year.  What are you going to do in 2024?  Are you writing it down?  Creating a vision board? Putting it in a journal?

If you are doing any of the above, it’s great; if you aren’t, it’s also great.  Remember, we are women of a certain age and don’t fit a particular pattern. As they say, “There is more than one way to skin a cat.”  I’m not sure what they mean, but it sounds good.

Look back at 2023.  What did you do in 2023 that was on your list?  Did you accomplish what you stated at the first of the year? Were you able to cross off any of your resolutions or, as I like to say, your “I’m gonna do list”?

I was able to do some of the things I was gonna do.  Sometimes, it took a friend to assist me, but I did them.

• My college roommate and I have been trying to see the singer Gregory Porter for years.  We even purchased tickets, but the concert was canceled.  We were getting to the point where we thought we might have to go to Sweden to see him, but in 2023, we got to see him!  She gifted me tickets.
• I heard Bryan Stevenson, the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative.  He has always been fascinating to me.  The first time I knew about him was through his excellent TED talk. The National Juneteenth Museum had him on their community program.
• In 2023, I would interview some great people; while doing it, I could hang out with great friends.  My co-worker, friend and I met with the owner of Urban Hydration, Psyche Terry.  It had come full circle because I had met her years ago at the Texas Conference for Women.  The interview was great, but my fun with my friend, co-worker, and mentor made it even better.  I went back to my hometown of Longview, Texas, and interviewed the creator of the fragrance line Pink MahogHany, Chavalia Dunlap. Who knew a perfumer lived in my hometown–I didn’t.
• I had a great time hanging out with my friend Ruby Powell, the owner of Ageless Perfection Skincare.  It was fun helping her set up for events.  We had a ball with our take on the Golden Bachelor.
• Having brunch with friends was great.  We are all so different.  I had met these ladies at different times in my life.  The food was great, and the conversations with these ladies were terrific.
• I continued to work out with the So Fit ladies.  We still do it via Zoom, and we hold each other accountable.  Our yearly outing took us to Vegan Food House. None of us had ever been, but a relative of members of our Facebook Group owns it.
• My grandson, sister, and I, along with my sorority sisters, participated in Wreaths Across America.  It was our honor.
• The city of Forest Hill honored me with its educator award during Black History Month.  I got to be on the program with the grandmother of Juneteenth, Opal Lee.
• I hung out with family on trips.
• Sitting on the couch watching bad television with my husband became fun. The man watches things that are just plain awful.

There was so much more from festivals, theater, cars, museums, seeing Queen B in concert, and more.  I don’t write down New Year’s resolutions. I just do what I do when I can. I hope you do the same. Remember “thisisyourbestyear”. Stop and smell the flowers, and pick a few.  See you in 2024.