It truly has been a year like no other.
Usually I would write my year-end posts by recounting my
travels from the last twelve months, some work milestones and a few personal
anecdotes. But I will remember 2017 as a year of personal pursuits.
This time last year, Love Monday Café was just an idea I had
scribbled on a notebook, written in emails to myself and put together on a few Pinterest
boards. It’s been a great journey, bringing it to life, and throughout the
process my emotions have ranged from truly inspired and encouraged to
downtrodden and defeated to grateful and fulfilled. Somewhat surprisingly, a
value I learned from my corporate life was what kept me going throughout the
year: resilience.
Another motivating factor were my friends and family, who continue
to support my crazy self and my crazy ideas. I can only imagine how frustrating
and worrying it can be sometimes to be friends with an ENFP, and I’ve never
been so much of an ENFP in my life as I was in 2017. So a lot of love and a
thousand thanks are in order to all of you who have been with me all these years!
There’s a lot to look forward to in the new year when you’re
coming from a year of first steps and new beginnings. I’m excited. There’s
still so much I want to do. Bringing ideas to life and – excuse the cliché –
turning dreams into reality can be quite addicting. It’s not always easy, it’s
not always going to work, but doing it is always worth it, no matter what
happens.
I also feel a new perspective coming to life throughout all
my experiences in 2017: a preference for simpler things, a penchant for
minimalism, a different set of priorities. I’ll write more about it once I’ve
put them all together in a more coherent way in my head.
If I’m being honest, I struggled writing this year-end post.
Not because I had nothing to write about - there were plenty. But everything I wrote
would sound like some sort of cliché, the kind of repetitive, formulaic story
written about in a Thought Catalog article or on some motivational or inspirational
blog with questionable credibility: I was a girl who quit her job and gave up
her career to pursue a far-fetched dream.
Except it isn’t a cliché. Because it’s been a deeply
personal and one-of-a-kind journey, and I lived it, and I have the entire 2017
to look back on to remind me of it, and I will continue to live it in 2018.
I guess it’s still a little hard to believe sometimes. I
really did it! I really took the plunge and did it, and it’s been a whole year
since of taking plunges, breaking through obstacles, and moving onward to pursue my
purpose and my passions, with supportive and loving friends and family around
me.
So what more could I ask for in the new year? Not much else,
really. Perhaps health, a level head, and a lot of heart so I can make the most
of the good graces that have been given to me. Excuse the cliché, but there’s
no other way to put it: hashtag-blessed. Happy new year!
