Sundaze 283: Lessons I Learned in 2024

Happy Sundaze, my loves!

It’s been a little while since my last post but I hope you’ll forgive me: December is such a busy month and this homebody completely overdid it and caught the flu last week. Thankfully I’m much better now and, actually, I’m freshly home from a day trip to Paris to spend time with one of my best friends, Elodie. Being unbelievably sick during one of my favourite seasons helped to put a lot into perspective though, which is what inspired this post as I started to regain my ability to breathe through my nose.

2024 felt like a big ol’ 12 months in the classroom. I started January about to buy a property on my own(!!) and feeling like I was nailing life, and I’m ending it no closer to being a solo homeowner. In fact, my dreams have shifted a lot and the months in-between were a necessary madness to get me to this point. I thought turning 30 brought me enough clarity, but there’s always more learning to be done. And here are some of the lessons that 2024 taught me…

Nothing changes if nothing changes. If you’ve read Daisybutter for any length of time, you’ll know that I really struggle with change. For much of the year, I felt stagnant and unmoored and unmotivated. I knew I needed change and, in fact, I knew change was on the horizon. It was sticky and uncomfortable and required a leap from my comfort zone, but change has been unbelievably great for me. I still adore this space, even though I’ve taken a whopping step back from it.

You don’t have to help every single person. I’m still working on not being such a people-pleaser, but it’s hard. When my Little Free Library received lots of manuscripts from local authors, I felt pressure (from nobody but myself) to make sure their books were definitely read and reviewed on my platforms. And I’m pretty much a nobody! I felt anxious having the books ‘with me’, and felt compelled to become their local publicist. But it’s good to draw a line between being a good person and putting pressure on yourself to complete unspoken favours.

Speak up, even if your voice shakes. I’ve been outspoken on everything from animal rights to anti-racism, climate change to takeaway owner rights, and that only continued in 2024. I think my confidence was severely shaken after the pandemic, but I know the importance of using my voice as a non-Black or Brown POC and as somebody with a platform and engaged community. Nobody is free until Palestine is free, and it’s been with pride that I’ve continued to lobby my local MP to stand for human rights and for a ceasefire to be called. Wherever I’ve felt able, I’m using my online platforms to speak out, but IRL is where things are happening lately. Still, there’s work to be done.

Prioritise your health above all. Although I felt guilty for stepping back from most of my ‘normal’ lifestyle this year, it was important and valuable for me to do so, so that my body could rest and recuperate. I navigated many health issues – a lot lingering from last year! – and felt good for prioritising my health and wellbeing. I realised that most people are just living slower and that’s completely fine.

Life-as-content, not content-as-life. I took a month-long break from social media in March, then another in September, and it was magical. I’ve spoken about this several times, so I won’t bore you again, but I’m loving this whole living-first, content-second thing.

Humans are very resilient and capable. I spent most of the year battling health problems that left me fatigued and downhearted, but made it through anyway. Amidst it all, I stuck to my guns and picked up running, which I unexpectedly love and even managed to take part in a couple of parkrun events in my town.

If they wanted to, they would. I’ve written pages and pages about friendship and friendship loss and break-ups in my journal this year. Processing friendship as a whole has been the overarching theme of my 2024, and it’s sad. However, I am so blessed with an incredible circle of women who’ve been there for and with me every step of the way this year, and I them. It’s the sort of friendship I have always dreamed of and it feels so good.