I can tell you what we aren’t bringing into the new year. Over the past two years, I feel like I have a really good idea of the bazillion things that have wound up on that list. So instead of focusing on the old and bad and, now, irrelevant, let’s focus on the good and the next steps.

In 2022, let’s bring bridging with us. We’ve all been working on expanding our views, understanding other cultures, and reaching out to others. Let’s take it that next step further and take every opportunity that we can to be the bridge for others in situations where we can help them feel at ease, grow their confidence, and see their value.

After a year of taking in a lot of unsolicited opinions (because we all know they’ve been A PLENTY on social media these days), let’s practice being more discerning with our own thoughts. Let’s exercise our right to experience each emotion, but only validate those that have merit. Instead of digging into negative self talk or that cycle of lying in bed at 11:43 pm and overthinking all of the mistakes we’ve ever made, let’s just not. We’ve been doing that for a while now – been there, done that.

Finally, let’s all agree that this is the year of peace. Ideally, this would be something everyone everywhere would get on board with. More practically, we’ll just be focusing on our peace and what that looks like for us as individuals. Whether that looks like reading a book instead of going to the bar, taking a midday walk with a scrumptious latte, or deleting oodles of Facebook “friends” that are more like nosy neighbors – we are going to find, preserve, and maintain our peace in a really unapologetic way. Gone are the days of answering the work text messages on Saturday, or stressing over the passive aggressive Slack messages, and we are definitely not going to be giving one ounce of attention to the judgey DMs in our inbox on how we raise our kids or clean our homes or dress. Not happening.

We have had to do a lot and be a lot recently. We have been stretched to our limits by our jobs, our loved ones, and our own expectations of ourselves. We have also really impressed ourselves by continually showing up, achieving things we didn’t think possible, and just generally doing it all. In the face of all of this, we have found ways to ignite our creativity, love our family and friends, take time to grow our brains, and not let ourselves slip completely into cynicism. This is not the year when we need to make resolutions or focus on what we need to be doing or what changes we have to make. This is the year to drop the bad shit, embrace the good shit, and not give a shit as it pertains to what anyone else thinks.

Whether you’re ringing in the new year alone, with friends, or with family – I hope your 2022 kicks off in the best way possible with love and laughter and the promise of all of the good that is yet to come. You are all so smart and capable and beautiful inside and out and you deserve every good thing that this new year has in store for you! xxx

P.S. Enjoy this photo of me cute-ly ripping my hair out in frustration. Lara Bly Designs helps.