*Clears cobwebs and throat*
I’m back!
It will be a disservice to end this year without sending out a final newsletter. I honestly went through a-newsletter fatigue. I was genuinely tired of receiving them and unsubscribed to a lot; mostly the telemarketing ones talking about "the new normal" and then going on to promote a webinar you had to pay 15k to attend. Not crapping on anyone's hustle but I was just exhausted.
It's really weird to think that this year is coming to an end in a few hours. It felt like 10 years in one (for a quick recap watch Netflix's Death to 2020) and while I wish everything will reset by 00:00 on January 1st, it's not looking like it. Either way, I will regard this year as a huge year for my personal growth.
You see, I'm currently writing from Ibadan where a few weeks after sending my last newsletter, I ran to seek some sort of solace. I finally admitted that I needed healing and the trip here in August was the beginning of it for me. Coming back here this month was a full-circle moment for me. For instance, listening to the same album I listened to on the ride here months ago; but this time, whole.
In the time where I was gone, I broke down, carried the shattered parts of myself to therapy, started making images I love, learnt to be self-aware, did a self-care month, won a couple of giveaways and started charting a new career path among other things. It was a challenging but beautiful journey.
2020 was such a hard and unexpected year. I learned to let go, to stay open and to live in abundance. I made the most amazing friendships in these last few months and genuinely felt at peace with the ups and downs that came with the year. I wish learning lessons like these were easy but the journey makes the destination a bit more special.
I feel like we all need some sort of healing from this year and I hope that we can all take some time to sit and reflect.
This quote by my favourite spoken word artist, Titilope Sonuga was everything to me during my journey:
Healing is a constant rocking back and forth
Forgive yourself the backward motion
Give thanks for the courage to inch forward anyway.
See you in 2021.