2024

I truly didn’t mean to disappear from this online space of mine for months on end yet again in 2023. I had the best of intentions to pick up where I’d left off until I slowly found the momentum to be a consistent blogger… except that totally didn’t end up being the case and anyone who’s popped over to this blog up until this point has found themselves only seeing my old posts.

Oops.

The truth is in two parts when it comes to what made me drop off the blogging train yet again. The first part is that I was, quite simply, very, very, very busy in 2023. It was such a momentous year (and eventually, I’ll get a belated retrospective up on this here blog too) in many ways, and I was preoccupied with all the life stuff and loved ones that graced my days. And to be fair, that’s how I want it; being present is so important to me, especially given how much it helps ease my anxiety.

The second part is that I was, in hindsight, struggling just a touch to hear my own voice clearly enough to be able to translate it into the longer form writing I do here. I apparently had no issues with writing reviews to share on Storygraph or Goodreads, posting short captions on Instagram or filming videos for YouTube, but whenever I tried to draft a blog post, I’d find myself typing, deleting, typing, deleting, typing, deleting… you get the picture. Eventually, my frustration with the entire exercise would simply boil over and I’d give up – and that happened over and over. It wasn’t fun; this was an unwelcome obstacle to my best laid plans.

It also mirrored how any attempts to write fiction in 2023 went too.

And so, with the marginal patience and calm I’ve learned over the years, I decided to simply let it go. If I couldn’t write anything that satisfied me after April 2023, then so be it. I’d just wait it out, wait until inspiration and desire sparked yet again… and that brings us to the present.

I’m not calling this a comeback, especially given I’ve decided to be very relaxed with myself about writing for this space – both in frequency and length. (And yes, this is also happening with my fiction.) I’m simply relieved to be able to tap into a wellspring of words again, and to finally hear myself clearly enough to translate those thoughts onto (digital) paper. It feels like coming out of hibernation, like brushing dust and cobwebs away from corners, like drawing the curtains open to let in the light.

It feels like coming home.

My sister Rachel and I have a tradition of picking out a word at the start of every new year, which I know many other folks do as well. I usually have a word lingering in my mind that feels like the right word for the year ahead, but 2024 is the first year where I ended up with more than one potential pick. I deliberated for a while on which one I wanted to use as manifestation and description of the year to come, and finally, I’ve settled on the word flourish.

The definition of flourish, at least the one I’ve elected to focus on, is “grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way, especially as the result of a particularly favorable environment”. In response to the epic nature of a year passed filled with wonderful, cherished, memorable experiences, I want to be able to use that as momentum forward in my own life.

There’s the physical aspect: maintaining a cozy, clean home, a better-balanced diet, and a regular exercise routine. There’s the financial aspect: improvements in money management and building up my savings. There’s the relationship aspect, specifically making the effort to spend quality face time with loved ones. And, most importantly, there’s the creative aspect: balancing out my hobbies (funny how doing the things I love that don’t seem directly related can often serve as creative fuel), working on my original works of fiction and jumpstarting my online spaces in the ways that feel right for me.

I just reread that last paragraph and wow, I’ve inadvertently put a lot on my own plate for this year. But I’m feeling good about it! I like having goals (your girl thrives when she has a to-do list). And I’m going to take the graceful approach to it all – no actual totals, figures, limits, hard goals to reach, but instead, just striving to incorporate these things into my day to day so they become a permanent part of my lifestyle. It seems to be going well so far, and hopefully, this cascades through the rest of the year.

Anyway, whether you’re a long-time follower or new reader, thanks for being here and for reading all the way to the end of this post. And, because it’s a new year and because this feels like a fresh start yet again… welcome to this blog, my little online space to chat about everything I’ve read, the things I’m interested in (these days, this trends heavily towards anime) and some of my real-life experiences too. Hope you’ll be sticking around (and that I will too)!

(P.S. If you'd like to hear more about my specific reading-related goals, I actually filmed a video for my channel where I talk about them and the twelve books I want to read in 2024.)