New Year Letter (2022)

Hello Friend,

I am working hard to process the fact that I am sitting down to write a letter to wrap up 2021. I feel like I just ran a race on pure adrenaline. Intellectually, I know it happened, but I am experiencing some level of shock looking back where I don’t remember *feeling* any of it.

Voluntarily or not, I jumped right back into society this year. Between traveling for friends’ major life events and several long weekend trips, I felt like I was living out of a suitcase for most of the summer and fall. I am so thankful to my body and vaccines for keeping me safe and healthy. I was also able to reunite with friends and family by hosting them. It gave me a good opportunity to explore Portland and Oregon in a way I hadn’t previously made time for. What I learned is that there is just a certain level of healing that comes from laughing in the same room with your home team.

Hand in hand with how fast paced this year has been is my growth in creativity and spirituality. There have been so many transformative moments for me that are hard to put into words. My attempt at doing so might include: I have connected more deeply to my higher power in the midst of some rapid changes in my life. This year, I made an unexpected change in career and, one day, my precious Kia refused to move another inch. I allowed my intuition to guide me. I am so grateful to be having fun learning my new professional role and taking on a new personal role as a pretentious new car owner. I am so happy to have celebrated a year of sobriety in September. I’ve been putting in work to practice what it means to feel in my body and find daily practices that connect me to my values.

Between all the trips to the airport, this year has really allowed me to take inventory of my people. As I sat down to make my mailing list, I asked myself, “Who do I feel celebrated by?” Each of you came to mind. Thank you for celebrating me. I hope you find comfort in knowing, whether it has been minutes or years, I am out here leading your cheering section.

Wishing you joy and sunshine,

Jo

P.S. For those of you wondering about Floyd and River: Most of the time, I have two mellow, (finally) adult cats who are living their best lives. However, Floyd did fail professional grooming. Now, I’m the groomer. I’m not sure if this is his karma or mine.