Looking back on 2023: IGNITE!

 

My Guiding Force [word] for 2023 was IGNITE! My hope was that it would help put things in motion, and that it did. It was fun to doodle out what happened and to see that I did truly embody IGNITE through magic, engines, adventure, re/connection, sparking ideas, and taking off.

I can tell it builds on past years, and lessons I’ve learned. For instance, I learned from LAUNCH (2019) that just because you put something in the world doesn’t guarantee it takes off. I also see how much of 2022’s THE MAGIC WITHIN YOU helped shaped me and remind me that I don’t need external inputs or validation to keep moving forward. Despite challenges and set backs, I can tell what I’ve learned in the past has helped prepare me for this season. The things that used to derail me no longer do in the same way.

Overall 2023 was the year I did the things that I’d been wanting to do forever (we’re talking a decade plus!), namely: Bal de Versailles and Henley Royal Regatta. I can see the magic in my patience, as I found the right crew to join me for the all-night masquerade ball (even managed to score VIP tickets for us all in the final hours). Much to my amazement, this summer marked 20 years since I raced at Henley, so it was a complete treat and delight to be able to watch the UVA men row and reconnect with a past teammate who joined too.

In our output-driven society, looking back I see how significant amount of the work I did this year is not visible to the outside world. While certain things didn’t grow or work out as I expected, it gave me space to nurture a project that is getting closer to sharing with the world. In fact, I got so deep into it I even surprised myself at times. Something was ignited in me—I was reminded how much I love to learn when I’m putting new things into the world.

Highlights included:

Places I went in 2023 at a glance:

  • Los Angeles

  • Kansas City

  • Chicago

  • Virginia

  • NYC

  • Boston

  • Maine

  • Vermont

  • Normandy

  • Versailles

  • Orleans (x3)

  • Bordeaux

  • Strasbourg

  • Lausanne

  • London (x4)

Key lessons:

  • Things take the time they take

  • Growth doesn’t always look like you expect

  • Space/time is a gift to work on what you really want to be doing

  • It’s natural for people to go out of orbit, everyone is going through something

  • Part of the process of creation is working through own blocks and doing it anyway, there’s a process of stepping into yourself and owning it

  • Keep going even without external inputs (it’s all within you= IGNITE!)

  • Learning new things that I have to implement is part of what lights me up

  • Realised I don’t have to be doing anything every second to have a meaningful year. To fully appreciate the magical moments there needs to be space and time to savor them.

In revisiting my map I was reminded of all the ways that this word rang true in ways I didn’t fully expect and how my map (which became my desktop background). It was a reminder to come back to what I’m working towards. I reread the post I created at the beginning of the year and while I didn’t accomplish everything I hoped out of the year, I can tell that it’s all in motion. The spark has been ignited.

Stay tuned for my 2024 map—and Guiding Force—coming soon. I have to admit I’m really looking forward to what’s ahead.

P.S. The next 3-mo cohort of Mapping Your Path opens for enrollment in mid-January.

 
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