The sun rises on 2024
Hey y’all. This week I returned from a three-week-long break, which included solo time, celebrations with family, and a beach visit. I feel so deeply fortunate to be alive and safe, to be loved deeply, and to be resourced with the luxury of travel and time. Going into 2024, I am newly committed to working toward a world where we are all able to feel safe and thrive.
Inevitably, my conversations with friends and colleagues at this time of year focus on getting closure on 2023 and anticipating 2024. We ended 2023 exhausted and fearful. Exhausted from end-of-year fundraising drives; obligatory holiday gatherings; holding the emotion of our teams, families, friends; managing our own health issues; and absorbing the deep sadness of children’s senseless deaths. Fear for ongoing wars, what the 2024 election will bring, our physical and mental health.
My community is amazing, truly. While we acknowledge all of the above, we’re also talking about what we need, for 2024 and beyond, to ensure our, and our communities’, ability to heal, grow, stay sane. Here, I crystallize the nuggets of wisdom into some action steps for you to consider as you prepare for the year ahead.
Create space for play
Tip: Scroll through your 2023 photos for reminders of events and activities that you enjoyed. Reach out to people with whom you can re-create those experiences, calendar the time you need to replicate activities you enjoyed, place a reminder note somewhere you can see it easily about what you want to say yes to. For me, this will involve creating opportunities to see out of town friends, attend cultural events, and play board games with my family.
Overestimate the rest you need
Tip: Schedule 30 minutes in your day for a break that could include a nap, or an “oasis moment”. We’re all more tired than we think we are. We almost never allow our tank to be full before we start using up our energy. Make a practice of filling up every day to avoid being depleted. I’m not great at rest, though I like to tell myself I am. So I plan to use the Nap Ministry’s Rest deck, one of my favorite gifts, during my 30-minutes.
Consider regular opportunities to be in community with like-minded folks
Tip: Schedule a monthly/quarterly gathering with your people. It’s going to be a hard year, and fostering community is essential. Not in the, “let me see if I can make it,” way – in an intentional, scheduled way that ensures it’s a priority to see people with whom you can be your most authentic and vulnerable self.
Play + rest + community = my formula for 2024. What’s yours?
With love,
Sayu
P.S. Thanks to my friends Raquel Castañeda-López, Karla Monterroso and Elissa Sloan Perry for conversations that informed these action steps