2023 in review 🥳 — RITA CASTAGNA

Happy New Year, everyone!

You ever feel like your heart has too many tabs open? But like, in a good way? That’s how I’m feeling at the end of this year. 🥰
I loveeee to reflect. Yule and New Year’s Eve are two of my favorite holidays for that very reason. I tend to let the events and achievements of my life wash over me, and it’s easy to forget what I’ve done and, as a result, assume that I’ve done nothing. But this year I made less “to-do” lists and more “ta-da!” lists—keeping track of what I did, not just what I hypothetically should do.
Every week I assemble the highlights in my little reflection planner; I assemble monthly highlights from the weekly highlights; and every quarter I am boggled by the magnitude of my quarterly highlight lists. Not only am I feeling more accomplished than I would have simply by reflecting, but it’s a positive feedback loop in itself that motivates me to do even more. People who feel accomplished … tend to accomplish things. Who knew!
Of course, things have not been perfect, and I have a long way to go in my life, career, bank account, war on climate change, etc. But in doin’ like Annie Oakley and takin’ stock of what I got (and not just what I don’t), I get to enter 2024 with confidence, gratitude, and ambition. 💪

My highlight lists include accomplishments big and small, but to save you all some precious holiday downtime, I’ll just share the big ones with you:

I owe a lot of the above to you all, dear readers. Every ticket, every stream, and every kind reply to this very newsletter has been ineffably meaningful to me. I am so grateful to you and wish you nothing but joy, gratitude, and hope this New Year. 🧡
And yeah, there’s no promo at the end of this one. No announcements, no ticket links. (Though they will be coming very soon hehe) This is a retrospective ONLY!
What are you most proud of accomplishing or experiencing this year? Big or small, internal or external? I’d love to hear it and congratulate you. Even if it’s just making it through another year with a beating heart, I’m very glad you did that. Happy happy holidays to all. I love you! See you next year! 🥂