Hey Reader!

Since the new year is a great time to start new things, I’d like to officially welcome you to my new monthly email! This is going to be a space where I can let you know what I’ve been up to, what’s coming up in the month ahead, and share what I’ve been thinking lately. Feel free to reply and let me know what you’ve been up to!

After a particularly challenging 2023, I welcomed the change that the new year often brings. My New Year’s tradition for almost a decade now has been to stay home and have a quiet, introspective night. It’s a time for me to reflect on the lessons I’ve learned from the previous year, and focus my intentions for the year that’s to come. After the clock flips over to midnight, I choose my “first song of the year” that embodies those intentions and have myself a little dance party. This year, I chose to dance to my own song, “Better Days”, which is all about holding on to hope during the darkest times. I stalled out on the production process of this song sometime last year, but getting to hear it from the perspective of a listener, and just dancing and having fun with it, made me really excited to finish it up and get it out to you so we can dance together. I’m aiming for a spring release, because after the long, dark winter days, I think we could use a light, fun song about looking forward to the sunshine. I can’t wait to share it with you!

This first month of the year has been about trying to find a productive rhythm again after a period of deep rest. One of my biggest struggles as someone who lives with chronic health issues is finding a sustainable way of working, and not getting caught in the hyperfocus-burnout cycle that I always used to fall into. Sometimes finding the will to stop yourself from working on something you love can be just as hard as finding the motivation to start working on something you’re completely uninterested in. I’m trying to retrain my brain from going “This is a great idea! Let’s work on it from beginning to end until it’s done!” to “This is a great idea! Let’s work on it a little bit each day until it’s done so I can work in a way that feels good.” To be honest, this has been a big challenge for me. Going slow when you’re excited about something is hard! As someone who has a habit of starting things and abandoning them if they take too long, it’s a challenge to resist the urge to do it all now, now, now! But as I have learned the hard way - many times over - doing it all now means I won’t be able to do anything later. For now, I’m starting with small, bite size projects that I can finish in a day or two. I’ve found this gives me the satisfaction of finishing something, and allows me to explore all the different parts of my creativity, from photography to video editing to music. If you want to see what I’ve been up to, definitely make sure to follow me on Instagram! I’ve been having a lot of fun sharing my little mini-creations.

Looking ahead, my calendar for February is pretty open so far. Here in Toronto, we’re smack in the middle of winter so I’m allowing myself to hibernate for a little bit longer. Although, apparently we’ve just gotten through the darkest weeks of winter, so at least we can look forward to a little more light each day. Maybe the lesson of this season is patience and pacing. A little bit more light each day until we get to spring, and a little bit of work each day until you get the thing done. And maybe, somewhere in between, I can learn to love the joy of the process, just like I’m learning to look for the beauty of winter through the lens of my camera.

See you next month!

xo,

Shari

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