#13: A Toast to my 2024

Gratitude and learnings

My Dearest Reader,

So happy to be writing to you again. I cannot even begin to express how beautiful and nourishing my past week has been. Some experiences, however close to the heart, cannot ever be justified through numbered words, some experiences are just an emotion. My last week was an emotion.

“The body doesn’t lie. But when we bring language to the body, isn’t it always already an act of fiction?” ~ Lidia Yuknavitch

In this spirit of joy let me get onto this week’s newsletter! By now you must have figured that I lovee writing letters. What better way to end the year, than to write to 2024.

Dear 2024,

Thank you for being the miracle that you were. I wouldn’t be who I am today if not for you. I’m grateful to you, so grateful to you not just for all the things that you so magnanimously kept giving me but also for all the things that you denied from me, for all the things you took me away from. Little did I know in the moment that you always knew better than I did, that you always had my best interest in your intentions, that you saw things that I didn’t back then. You’ve saved me in more ways than I recognise by your subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle ‘take deviations’ signs :)

We’ve moved continents, restarted life, embarked on a completely new career, started falling madly in love with this new career, grew close to some and grew apart from others, got to spend so much time with my sister, did my first ever poetry audition, went on my very first ski trip (had a blast and tanned like never before haha), took more domestic flights than I ever have in any past year, got rejected from what I thought were do or die moments, moved homes, grew deeper in my faith, got into strength training, unlocked push-ups and pull-ups after 22 years of always being an ‘oh I can’t do push-ups and pull-ups girl’, wrote SO many letters to my loved ones, started my own newsletter (happy screeching even as I am typing this one!) and I can keep the list going on.

If I have to start thanking you for everything, then this letter wouldn’t end. So instead today I want to tell you about my most significant learnings from 2024; things you’ve taught me that I will take along with me to 2025:

The “I-don’t-say-it-enough” syndrome

“I don’t say it enough but…” I never want there to be even a day in my life where I am writing to my loved ones saying “I don’t say it enough but…”. I want to say it in abundance, I want to keep saying it until the one on the receiving end is so annoyed with hearing me say it, and I want to continue to keep saying it even after that. I want to ensure I lead my life in such a way that I continually keep expressing my gratitude, keep letting my loved ones know how immensely lucky I feel to have them in my life, to keep reminding myself to never take a loved one for granted.

Gratitude, blessings and responsibility

I’ve expressed more times than once about how gratitude has been an anchor in my 2024. More than anything being grateful has allowed me to recognise how magnanimous life has been to me, it has allowed me to recognise how immensely blessed I am. And I’m not talking about just the big things, the big wins, and the life-altering moments. I’m talking about how being consciously grateful has allowed me to recognise the generosity of life in what seems like the tiniest of things. Feeling blessed amma’s lap, for house help that treats me like her own daughter, for tastebuds that allow me to enjoy the exploding flavours of rasam sadham, for my daddy’s every night words ‘‘blessed to have you as my daughter kanna’’, for having a sister who always manages the food ordering part in every restaurant we go to, for having a fresh pair of socks and the limitless list that continues.

What has recognising your magnanimity done to me? It has made deeply feel an immense immense sense of responsibility. A responsibility towards these blessings. A responsibility to live my life worthy of these blessings. A responsibility to lead every moment of my life as a testament to the parenting of my amma and my daddy.

Feeling so blessed. Feeling so responsible. Feeling like a miracle. Absolutely excited to experience what 2025 has in store for me - to see how 2025 unfolds for me, to see how I keep growing in my faith, how I keep ticking all my 2025 goals and how I keep levelling up.

Thank you my loveliest 2024, and farewell to you.

Final thoughts

And that concludes the last newsletter for 2024!!! My dearest readers thank you so so much for being on this journey with me, for showing up week after week to support my writing, for all the love you shower upon my newsletter.

Wishing you a fantastic 2025, wishing you a year of abundance, wishing you a year that allows you to preserve everything that brings you joy. Happy Happy 2025!

With warmth and wonder,

Vaishnavi

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