I never enter the new year quite the same way. Last January, I was ready to go, full of energy and resolve. I started a new fitness program and completed the third draft of my book.

A few years earlier, it snowed and it felt like the kids would never go back to school. (This was pre-pandemic before I had perspective.) I wrote a whole blog post about how January is a myth. The melting snowman summed up how I felt that year.

I transitioned into 2023 with a bit more ease than usual; it felt like a continuation of things set in motion in 2022 rather than a brand new start. We returned to work and school with little fanfare.

I updated my website, which I do periodically, and that process is always an invitation to look at my work as a writer with fresh eyes. Here’s a peek at the home page:

This year, I want to continue to explore what it really means to create a life that feels like home.

On the About Page of my website I write:

By age 25, I was the morning anchor at the top station in my hometown with dreams of moving to Los Angeles and hosting an entertainment news show. Specifically, I wanted to be the next Nancy O’Dell.

I didn’t know it at the time, but I’d hoped that my success would fill a void—pain and loss from the past that I hadn’t fully grieved or come to terms with. I built my identity around my work and that worked for a while.

Just as my career was taking off, I noticed that something felt off. I was struck with what I can only describe now as a deep-seated longing for home. For most of my life, I’d searched for home within my family of origin, my social life, and my work. It took leaving my career to finally find it.

Walking away, letting go, and giving myself space to feel my feelings changed everything. I released society’s narrow definition of success and the belief that it held the key to self-worth and true belonging.

I eventually learned is that home is inside of me. As it turns out, she’d been there all along.

As I reinvented my life and career, became a mom, and started a blog, I took these lessons with me. I believe home is always available to us. We often find it in the right now moments when we’re brave and vulnerable enough to trust our hearts and be true to ourselves.

Everything I write is through this lens.

Happy New Year friends. Whether you continue what you started or begin something brand new, I believe that your heart will lead you home.

xo
Angie