Goodbye 2023: Reflections + new year prep
Plus: My favorite things from this year.
Hi everyone,
I’m writing to you from my bed, where I am once again recovering from some cold-like illness. Is anyone else getting sick a lot more often post-Covid? I feel like if I go out too much now, I come down with something. Luckily I appear to be on the mend, just in time to catch a Christmas Eve flight to Michigan to visit my parents.
It is officially Reflection Season, and I love this time of year. A little slower, a little colder; I have some time off work, and I’m using it to read, rest, and get ready for 2024. I thought i’d use this newsletter to highlight some work I’m proud of and some other favorites from the past year, if nothing else than for posterity.
In this week’s issue:
1. My favorite writing from this year
2. Other favorites
3. Links
My favorite writing from this year
Here is some of my personal work from this year I’d like to highlight.
My ‘soul is tapped out:’ The pandemic killed my ambition. Here’s how I’m getting it back: This is a piece I had been thinking about for a while, and I’m happy with how it turned out (rare for me—and many other writers—when I really care about something). The process of researching and writing this was also very cathartic, and I think about the interviews I did for it often. The reader response I got for this piece reminds me why I do what I do—I was so heartened with many of the messages I received, and I felt deeply connected to people. I occasionally still see it pop up in newsletters or tweets from people I admire, and that’s an amazing feeling. I wrote a couple of follow up pieces I also like, including this on wintering, this on “quiet ambition,” and this on women who took career breaks. S/O to my then-editor Lindsey who let me work on this project she knew was important to me.
$100,000 isn’t the dream salary it once was for millennials as they feel the middle-class squeeze and High-earning millennials say they’re barely getting by on $100k salaries: This is another series that I felt really resonated with the audience. While I don’t love focusing my writing on “wealthier” people, I think it speaks volumes when relatively well-off, able-bodied young people feel like they can’t get ahead. That really seems to be one of the economic stories of our time.
I started contributing more to The Broadsheet this year, Fortune’s newsletter for women in business. I had a lot of fun writing this piece on Taylor, and loved all of the email responses I got. (I also broke down where all of the money from her tour is going, which was a fun exercise).
Studio boss David Zaslav’s tactics have made him a villain in Hollywood. But will he be the turnaround CEO that Warner Bros. Discovery needs? I don’t think I’ve actually shared this piece here yet, but this is one I worked on for a few months and pushed me outside of what I normally cover. I loved writing it! And I would love to keep writing entertainment stories in the new year. It is also in the latest issue of Fortune, and having a multi-page feature in print will never not be cool.
Some “real person” stories I enjoyed working on: How an early retiree quit a six-figure job to live off $34,000 a year in rental income (this will have you contemplating giving everything up to go live in a small town in the middle of nowhere); An early retiree who travels the country in his RV built wealth the old-fashioned way to join the FIRE movement: ‘I saved my pennies and invested wisely’ (this man was very sweet and inspiring); A millennial family earning $170,000 who has been living ‘monk-like’ to build wealth fears a ‘pending financial storm’ of student debt and childcare; A 33-year-old woman shared her breakup and home-buying story on TikTok, and strangers sent her $4,000 worth of home goods (really loved our conversation); and How a 44-year-old built up enough ‘f–k you money’ to retire early (Charmagne had me considering moving to Buffalo).
It’s hard to believe “deinfluencing” happened this year. That’s one of my pieces that got me the most pick up, including multiple interviews with Canadian media outlets.
I was all over the student loan cancelation news. Covering policy stuff like this feels like my bread and butter at this point; it’s interesting, useful, and provides a real service for people.
Other favorites from the year
Book
After a bountiful 2022, reading was a bit disappointing to me this year. One of my goals for next year is to branch out and read older books. The standout for this year was probably The Dutch House by Ann Patchett, which I wrote about a few months ago.
Honorary mention: The Friend, by Sigrid Nunez. I’ve been itching to read her new book, The Vulnerables.
Movie
Past Lives made me feel a lot in a way I haven’t in a while. I need to rewatch it.
Honorary mention: I wouldn’t say it was a favorite, but I’ve thought a lot about May December since I watched it.
Concert
I went to so many good shows this year: Boygenius at Madison Square Garden; The National—but only for opener Patti Smith, who was electric in person (obviously); jazz musician Pat Metheny; Japanese Breakfast for the second time (I was also blown away by opener Ichiko Aoba); and Maggie Rogers outside on a 90+ degree day.
But it has to be Taylor at MetLife (night 1, yes we got Maroon, Jack Antonoff duetting Getaway Car, and an Ice Spice performance). The whole day was a blast, the show was amazing, and I cried…three times? The worst part was getting home, but it was worth it. I can’t remember the last time I had that much uncomplicated fun.
Honorary mention: Big Thief. I bought these tickets for Chris’s birthday and really had an amazing time. Adrianne Lenker Forever.
Trip
I didn’t travel much this year. But probably the best one was a three-day writer’s retreat with my friends Marina and Trey upstate. We were quite literally in a cabin in the middle of the woods, working on our writing projects between family meals and talk sessions. Getting home from this was also a nightmare (never travel on NYC marathon weekend), but the trip itself a dream.
Honorary mention: I loved Atlanta and would love to go back!
Splurge
I joined Equinox and honestly…I love it. I take all of the classes and use the eucalyptus-infused towels every time and it’s so worth it.
Honorary mention: I bought three pairs of the same jeans at one time (on sale!) once I found the style I wanted that fit me well. I wear them pretty much every day.
Misc.
I learned how to play piano this year! (Well, I learned the basics.) I started a novel! (Well, the very beginnings of one.) I actually saved some money! (Well, a tiny bit.) I saw a dietician and cooked more! (Well…)
Links
I admit that my brain has been a bit fried lately—I have so many stories and newsletters bookmarked to read later; I know there is so much good and important work out there. But I haven’t read much online lately. I am finding it harder and harder to look at a screen when I’m not working.
Okay, this isn’t a link, But since it’s Reflection Season, I wanted to outline the year-end system I’ve come up with:
Step 1: Go through my planner, all of my journals, and other personal writings from the year (I have random bits of writing in many places, including this newsletter, my iPhone notes app, OneNote, and so on). Make note of major themes/highlights/things I want to explore more/ways to improve in the coming year.
Step 2: Review the goals I set for last year, and write out how they went.
Step 3: Journal my year in review. Include thoughts on movies, music, books, concerts, activities, trips, recipes, etc. from the year. Some resources that help me reflect on the year include The Year Compass; Emily P. Freeman's 10 questions; Courtney Martin’s 10 questions (+ part II); Susannah Conway’s Unravel Your Year; and of course, the good ol’ Life Audit (I don’t necessarily do this for the New Year, but it’s good for learning if you’re on track with where you want to be).
Step 4: Go through all of the photos on my phone from the year and pick 10 to post on Instagram.
Step 5: I’m not good at coming up with a single word for the year or single goal, but I like to think, generally, of what I want my new year to include more of. For 2024, it’s fun and beauty. (And then there are a few things that seem to make it back on my list every year, including movement, healthy eating, reading new authors, etc.) Something else that resonates with me: You could consider making 2024 a Depth Year.
The best thing I’ve read about Taylor Swift, written, of course, by Taffy Brodesser-Akner. If you “don’t get” the whole TS thing by this point, it’s intentional.
Why sweaters suck now. I’ve tried for the past few years to only buy 100% (or as close to it as possible) natural fiber clothing but, you know, it’s hard.
I’m leaning into winter this year. “It’s only in the past century or so that we’ve been able to live exactly the same life regardless of the season. And yet, despite all our efforts with heating systems and light bulbs, we still feel the pull of winter on our minds and bodies. Winter light invites us to sleep differently, to rest more, to retreat, reflect and contemplate. This cyclical way of life helps us to find balance across the course of the year. We cause ourselves real pain when we resist it.”
Rethinking the Luddites in the age of AI: “A new book argues that Luddism stood not against technology per se but for the rights of workers above the inequitable profitability of machines.”
“Today, it might seem crazy that male economists once thought women were mostly irrelevant to important things like the macroeconomy. But if it is confusing to you, that’s because of Claudia Goldin and the army of economists that she has trained to see the world differently.” And she recently won the Nobel Prize for her work.
“A government that does not devote sufficient resources to the future will produce a society that is ultimately less prosperous, less innovative, less healthy and less mobile than it could be.”
A list of sustainable hobbies to help curb consumerism.
It is funny to look back on my newsletter from this time last year and see that not much has changed at all (there is even a Luddite-related link lol)!
I love what Ann Friedman has been doing with her newsletter the past few weeks, turning it into a serialized story of becoming a mother at 40 and what that has meant for her.
Speaking of Ann, I am routinely inspired by so many peoples’ writing/work, I thought I would give some a shoutout here at the end of the year and share the newsletters I pay for: Ann Friedman weekly (my longest-running subscription), The 52 project by Jami Attenberg, Austin Kleon, The Clearing by Katherine May, morning person by Leslie Stephens, and Out of the Blue by Mari Andrew. And just for fun: Who? Weekly is technically a podcast, but they sometimes send out a newsletter so I guess that counts.
That’s it for now. Here’s wishing you + yours a restful holiday season,
A
P.S. If you know someone who would like this newsletter, please forward it along!
P.S.S. Thanks Christopher Skinner for the illustrations!