Takeaways of the last year
I’m looking back on 2022 and its lessons, all of which we are incredibly grateful for. To say 2022 was a mixed bag is an understatement. And if I’m being completely honest, 2022 was kind of a blur (as are most years). I have difficulty with pinpointing and writing about specific moments in time due to my memory function being impacted by trauma. That said, I can easily talk about how things feel/felt, and how I’m feeling moving into this new year.
I’ll start by saying that 2022 was a difficult year on so many levels. And I don’t think I’m alone in this sentiment.
In 2022 -
Covid finally caught up to our family. Lucky, we’re all okay, but it’s a crapshoot with this virus and it was truly a scary experience not knowing how we’d fare. Still masking, still distancing, still boosting and asking our community to do the same.
My partner’s illness has gotten worse, and that’s affected all aspects of our lives. We’re still hoping to find a diagnosis, and we may be inching closer to one - hopefully there will be better news about this in our next end of year wrapup.
More blank spots of ours were illuminated, and I won’t necessarily add this to the list of negative aspects of last year, because we are always happy to learn about how and where we can do and be better. Being committed to growth is never easy, but it’s always worth the struggle that comes with it.
My kid has continued to grow into the most incredible young adult, and this last year I had the honor of witnessing them learn deep lessons about love, identity, autonomy, and self advocacy. We’re closer than we’ve ever been - the teen years are my favorite, by far!
Cornerstone continues to grow and shift in new ways, consistently shaping itself into the organization that we continually vision it to be. The fact that we never stay static and that we always continue to grow is an aspect of Cornerstone that I am so incredibly proud of. Our wonderful team is profoundly committed to each other and our shared vision - and our bonds have cemented themselves in ways that I couldn’t have ever imagined. The friendships that we have cultivated with these folks, both personal and work-focused are so incredibly tender and generative. I couldn’t ask for a better community to be a part of, and I am continually humbled by the ways that I am trusted and the ways that I am allowing myself to trust and grow with them.
I’ve become the nurse that I always wanted to be, and am flourishing as a leader in our team.
Though I’ve learned many lessons this last year, I’ll say the most important ones - the ones that are present in my mind are:
Connection, community, and friendship are paramount. The pandemic isolation finally really caught up with me this last year, and I realized how alone I had become in my day to day life. Reconnecting with friends, finding creative ways to be more social, and tending to all of my relationships more mindfully and deeply are at the top of my priority list in 2023.
No more transactional relationships in any aspect of our lives - I am no longer interested in anything transactional; only interdependent and generative relationships from here on out.
Never give up hope searching for answers to all questions - this is especially true for the way that I advocate for my partner. There has to be a diagnosis out there, and I’ll never give up hope that we find a treatment for him.
2023 is all about moving deeper into our purpose. This is an ongoing project that we’ve been continually working on for years, but this year feels particularly potent. 2023 is about connecting with our community in a deeper way. It’s about generativity, meaningful connections, collaboration, and collective growth.
2023 is about new projects, updating our ongoing projects, and supporting our new birthworkers and nurses through mentorship. 2023 is about travel, rest, visioning, love, and action. We’ll be spending an amazing week in Thailand (still a few spots left 😉) with our community relaxing, connecting, cultivating joy, visioning, and crafting our collective commitments. I can’t wait to see what we all come up with together!
Looking forward, I can’t wait for the lessons that this year will bring. I’m here for it all; messy, joyous, difficult, rough, fun, and all things in between. Thank you all so much for being here to witness our growth and to share your lives, passions, goals, and friendships with us. I couldn’t imagine what life would be like without this amazing community.