3 Important Lessons I Learned in One Year

Happy birthday to my pride and joy, the thing that yanks me out of bed in the morning, the passion that has connected me to all of you amazing people - The Shower Thoughts Series was born exactly one year ago! My baby is one year old. Can you believe it? Oh, how this year has felt like 10 years and only two weeks at the same time.

Today marks my 34th post. 34 blog entries over the course of this tumultuous year. What started as a quarantine hobby has grown into something I never would have dreamed of. We've discussed dealing with heartache, to fighting racism, to finding your passion, and everything in between.

I'm truly humbled by the community that has grown to support me these past 365 days. I'm blown away by the stories that some incredible individuals trusted me to share, and to have the opportunity to dive into the hard topics that we all deal with throughout our lives that can frankly be hard to discuss at times.

My goal is to continue to foster and grow this community, as this experience has truly taught me so much - my only wish is to be a resource to those who are seeking help in any area of life, because we all could use a shoulder to lean on, right?

So, I want to share some things I've learned this year in hopes that others can recognize how much can change in just 365 days.

There's never a right time

We're all guilty of this, and the sooner we get it through our heads, the better. We wait to apply for the job, to move to that city, to propose to our significant other for when the "time is right". But the truth is, as we all know, we wait and wait and wait some more, when we should've just taken the leap of faith from the beginning.

Do we really have any time to waste?? If you want something, run towards it at full force. You'll never feel fully ready, and that's only because you haven't experienced it yet. But you'll figure it out, because you always do no matter where your path has taken you. The one thing I've learned this year is to just do it (Nike has been telling us this for years, oops). Whatever it is, start it, apply for it, ask for it. Because what do you really have to lose? You've survived 100% of your worst days, so take a chance and bet on yourself.

Our world is flawed, but we have the power to spark change

This year we saw some hateful crimes, but we also saw an outpouring of love. We dealt with a global pandemic, racial injustices, protests, a historic election, and more that jolted us awake and opened our eyes to the work that needs to be done in our country and beyond. We saw innocent black Americans killed at the hands of police officers, we saw a mob of Trump supporters storming our Capitol building, we saw thousands of people fight for their lives in the midst of COVID-19.

But we also saw millions of people worldwide participating in Black Lives Matter protests, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris attempting to reunite us as a country, and health workers risking their lives to save others and work endlessly to create a safe vaccine for all. In the words of Marvin Gaye, "only love can conquer hate" and as a society, we are continuing to learn that.

Our connections are everything

If there's one thing this year taught us all, it's that human beings need each other. Even the most introverted people need some social interaction. We are wired to desire connection and foster relationships with others, which was a fun shock to the system when lockdown hit.

But that's the very reason this blog was created, why we all had zoom happy hours, and FaceTimed our grandparents and friends for hours on end - to feed our souls with conversation, to laugh, to cry, to disagree, to share how we were feeling in what may have been a dark time for many. We can now appreciate our relationships more than ever before and remind ourselves that even if we don't feel like going to that party next weekend, we're lucky to even have the option.

So if you can take anything away from this article, remember to do whatever you want to do in your life now, do you part in helping create change to better our world, and hug the people in your life a little tighter. For those who began this journey with me and to anyone just hopping on the bandwagon, thank you so much for your support always and please help me expand my community by sharing my blog on any social channels (linked below) - so much love and I can't wait to see what's in store for this year!

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