January 22, 2023 is Tet – the lunar new year, the year of the cat in Vietnamese culture and the year of the rabbit in Chinese culture. I’m not sure how two animals of such disparate dispositions ended up embodying the same year.

Back during my magic carpet ride in fall of 2020, I proclaimed to the universe that I was giving birth to myself. I like to think I had the idea and it took almost three years to germinate but I suspect like many of my other ideas in the past, I perseverated and procrastinated taking action. Then again, maybe I’m being hard on myself. Giving birth does require a gestation period and I’ve been going through a lot of internal work that has slowly manifested into the external world.

So today, I’m going to start being a little bit kinder to myself (ignore the first two paragraphs, I didn’t say I was perfect). When I start hearing my voice berating me in my mind, I’ll tell her that I hear her being scared that I’m not being my best self but I’m going to take care of myself and I’ll do my best. I’m here now writing on this blog that I’ve always wanted to start. I did that. That was a baby step. Next is actually putting myself out there and being truly vulnerable by sharing the existence of this blog with people. Haha! I can’t exist in anonymity anymore. It’s been fun writing to the myself but kind of lonely too.

This year will be different. Today will be different. I remind myself that each moment is unique, unknown, completely fresh. Every moment offers an opportunity for renewal, for rebirth, for transformation.

Starting 2023, I intend to move forward my ideas, intend to put myself and my ideas out there for discovery, for discussion, for scrutiny, or whatever else I’m so scared of. If people should choose to criticize me, I’ll remember that everyone has an opinion and that I can entertain their ideas or opinion but I don’t have to accept it. You can’t hook me if I’m not biting!