New Year & Two Years
Hello and welcome to the year 2024.
This month, I celebrated two years of sobriety. To commemorate the occasion, I bought a thin gold ring with a tiny infinity symbol on it. I liked the idea of two circles (for two years) creating the infinity symbol, as my plan is to remain sober infinitely. However, after two weeks of wearing the ring, it broke. I just have to laugh about it. It's another lesson from the universe, I suppose. I'll ask to have it fixed and try not to think of it as a sign of something scary to come.
Winter has fully arrived here in the Pacific Northwest. There were several storms with non-stop snow for days. The power and wifi went out for hours on a couple of occasions. It was an opportunity to light candles and rest, to practice the art of being bored. There have been weeks with only gray skies and an absolute certainty that the sun no longer exists. This winter, I am noticing a feeling of being okay with the gray. Two years of sobriety has given me a more even rhythm of feelings; I'm able to ride the emotional midline most days. I have added other habits while staying sober in the last two years that certainly deserve credit. I have a 52-week walking streak. I've added a walking pad to my standing desk to keep my step count up during the winter, and it's helping my mental well-being. I've been writing three pages of Morning Pages (see Write It Down post) for over a year now. This daily "brain drain," as author Julia Cameron calls it, has been a beneficial practice to view my thoughts with more compassion and curiosity, to notice when there’s a tendency for black and white thinking and question it.
My word for 2024 is "ONWARD." It embraces the mantra to keep going, to avoid distractions. I have a plan, and it's a good one—to continue with the practices and habits I already have in place that are supporting my sobriety and my plans for the future. There are no resolutions, no "new year, new me." Just onward.
Thank you for reading this. I hope you'll come back. I'll be over here.
