Happy New Year everyone, and welcome to 2024! 🙂 We’ve had an incredible couple of weeks off enjoying the holiday season. Hopefully you all have enjoyed some time off as well. During these past few weeks, we had the opportunity to do a lot of reflecting on the past year and dreaming for the year ahead. 2023 was a crazy busy year: truly a combination of some of the best and some of the worst times. Join me as we’re looking back at 2023, and ahead to 2024!

Here’s some of our highlights from 2023:

• Took 23 flights in total this year 🤯
• Enjoyed 7 separate trips to the US for work, in the spring and the fall
• Visited the Okanagan on 4 separate trips throughout the year
• Explored 2 new provinces on Canada’s east coast
• Hosted 3 events across the country for my book tour
• Had 2 book signing events at Indigo Kelowna and Queen Books in Toronto
• A total of 100+ books sold including from the book tour, through bookstores, and from Amazon
• Gross book sales of $2000+
• Named a Top 3 finalist in the Poetry category for The Canadian Book Club Awards
• 2023 Winner in the Poetry category of The Canadian Book Club Awards!

The biggest highlight of my year without a doubt has been publishing my debut poetry collection, and most recently, being named the Poetry Winner of the 2023 Canadian Book Club Awards. Publishing my book has certainly brought its own roller-coaster ride, and I can’t wait to see what the ride brings next. Thank you always to TSPA – I’m forever in your debt for helping make this happen. ♥️♥️

I think it’s really important to recognize both the struggles and the high points of the year. Life is always going to have a bit of both, and this year in particular there were a lot on each side. Let’s take a look at some of the challenges of this past year:

• Dealing with a lot of loneliness
• Persistent self-doubt and challenges faced throughout the publishing process of my book
• Struggling with book sales
• Exhaustion from flights (23 of them!) and trips around the country and across the US
• Disliking living in Toronto
• Lacking motivation for activities outside of work
• Navigating a break up
• Still coping with losing a loved one to suicide from a couple of years ago
• Increasing mental health challenges
• Deciding to take a break from work and move home for a bit

As we look ahead to 2024… I truly have no idea what’s to come. I mentioned that I’ve moved back home to BC for a little bit and I’m taking some time off from work. I’m hoping to focus on more creative energies, but we’ll have to see what happens.

It’s been a long time since I’ve entered a new year with no plan of what is ahead. In fact, this may be the first time in my life that I’ve ever done so. Though it’s a bit terrifying, there is also a bit of excitement to have a blank canvas, with the ability to create whatever I’d like. Happy new year, and here’s to figuring it out as we go! More to come soon. XO, C. ♥️