Resolving 2023

Embrace the glorious mess that you are

Elizabeth Gilbert

So, it’s 2023. It’s 2023! Where did 2022 go? Anyone else feeling a bit discombobulated on this, the first day of the new year?

It has been 11 months since I last posted something here. Eleven whole months. When I spoke that out loud to my husband this morning I could hardly believe it. And yet, here we are.

When I was trying to think of why I hadn’t sat down to write in so long (despite my usual New Year’s resolution to do so every single day…or, at least more often) it only took one quick glance to my left at the peacefully snoring little one there to remind me why.

I didn’t write much at all last year because, well, I wasn’t feeling up to it. Why, you might ask? Well…because most of my energy was necessarily taken up in the act of growing the newest member of our family. Eleanor Rita Roberta Gurski Savoie was born two weeks early on October 14th, 2022, coming swiftly into this world after a mere 5 hours of labour. Of course, we are over the moon (as is her big sister Aria) but as pregnancies are not easy for me, the worthy cause of giving her life was pretty much all I could handle for 10 months. Well, that and making sure her older sister also had all the food, sleep, fun and love she needs and deserves every single day.

But here I am, again. I will always return to writing, no matter what life throws at me. Writing is a part of me, a big part, and something I miss terribly when I’m not doing it. However, as a wise friend recently reminded me, there are seasons for everything in life and perhaps being a mother of two young ones is not the season in which I will do the most writing. And that is OK.

So, I’m back. Back again…Tell a friend? Yeesh. Dating myself with that one.

But what does being back mean for this blog?

Well, I’m not going to make any specific promises. I’ve done that too many years in a row and the universe seems to conspire every time to throw something into my path that makes typing out regular words a serious challenge. A wedding, a rough pregnancy, a pandemic, another rough pregnancy…Though I am immensely grateful for all but one of those things. So, I’m going to try something new.

I won’t be making any set promises but I will try my very best to show up on a regular basis. I can’t express enough how much I appreciate each and every person who visits this blog and enjoys my writing enough to stick around for a while. It means the world to a budding young writer such as myself. And I truly hope to continue to entertain everyone who stumbles upon my little corner of the internet for years, nay, decades to come. I just might be entertaining you on a slightly irregular basis. I do, however, have a few goals for the blog this year:

1. Finish chronicling my France trip from 2015. I know a few people in my life at least are waiting to read the last few instalments of this.
2. Catch up on some book reviews – I have so many thoughts to share on what I read over the course of the last year! Spoiler alert: I made my reading goal (22 books last year) for the first time ever.
3. Redesign the blog to make it more user friendly. It’s high time I took more pride in this little nook of the interwebs that I’ve built for myself.

What do you think. Doable? I certainly hope so. Even if I am on maternity leave with two little ones. If you have any advice on how to fit writing into early motherhood, please do share!

Resolution

And it’s not only with the blog that I’ve decided to go in a slightly different direction. I’ve also realized that my usual practice of writing up 5 different New Years Resolutions at the beginning of every year just doesn’t work for this period of my life anymore. I already have so much to focus on that these just become one more thing that is hard to fit into day-to-day life.

So, instead, I’m taking a page (er, post?) from several bloggers I follow and choosing a word to guide my year. This is a practice by which you take some time to reflect on an area of your life that needs some extra focus and energy and you choose a word which inspires you to give it the love it requires.

For me, in 2023, that word is HEALTH.

Since 2016, I have been either pregnant, breastfeeding, sick, healing or struggling with mental health. That’s a long time to consistently not feel ones best. Through all of these challenges, my healthy eating and exercise habits have been decimated, I have put on more weight than I care to analyze too closely, and my body and mind have paid a heavy price in order to get me through it all. So, in 2023, as much as possible, I’m going to focus on me.

What does this mean?

I’m going to work to incorporate more vegetables back into my daily meals and cut out much of the sugar. I’m going to move my body as much and as often as possible. I’m going to take the time to care for my skin properly even when I’m exhausted. And I’m going to prioritize my mental health. Because, as a dear friend once told me, you can’t pour from an empty cup. Me, my girls, and everyone I love deserve me at my best. And this is how I’m going to show up for them all.

I may still be a mess much of the time, I mean who isn’t really with how much we all have on our plates. But I’m going to work really hard to embrace that aspect of myself and, in fact, embrace all of who I am, as I am, while also accepting that I could be taking care of myself better. Because I may be a mess, but I’m a glorious mess. And that, my friends, is worth embracing indeed.

Oh. And. HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Always remember, even in its messiness. Life is beautiful.

xo Erin