Choosing to end 2024 with ease
To say that 2024 is ending as I hoped would be an outright lie. Minimally I expected that the year would end nationally on a much more hopeful note. Instead our national nightmare continues through the end of 2024 and is expected to get worse as we progress through 2025. In my personal world, 2024 is ending on several disappointing notes. With all that is going on and the grim forecast, you’d think I’d be depressed.
Yet I’m not depressed. Nor am I in denial. Behind the scenes, I’m grappling with some tough decisions. I’ve processed and continue to process all that I feel. Yet, I’m choosing to smile and laugh. Yet I’m choosing to treat myself with kindness, give myself grace, choose the paths of least resistance and pull emotional/mental escape hatches PRN also known as pro re nata or as the situation demands.
Ordinarily, I don’t keep up with the latest in television and film. But lately I’ve gotten my money’s worth from my Netflix subscription. Though I’m considering canceling my Prime subscription, the latest Alex Cross series—a series I’ve never watched before, is probably the best television I’ve seen this season.
Immediately after the election, I sought to change the algorithm for my timelines. Right away my attention turned to cooking. Something that I always do but admittedly these past couple of years I haven’t really explored anything new. But post-election, the very first thing I binged-watched was Chopped. I also caught up on the cooking shows that were accumulating on my DVR. I resumed watching Jeopardy, my favorite game show that I DVR every day. I don’t know how many episodes I previously deleted because my attention was elsewhere. But since November 6th, I’m almost positive that I haven’t missed an episode.
While I’m definitely not all about the glow up, I’ve been dialing in my skin care reincorporating fresh aloe vera gel. Essentially I use it as a serum for my face and my body, applying it before the final step of moisturizing. Thankfully the typical rainy Los Angeles December weather has remained at bay and I’ve been able to further melanate myself. Like most, I don’t maintain optimal levels of vitamin D. The 75-degree sunny days remind me that I don’t have go into the cooler months deficient or with pale legs!
With a lighter schedule, I can sleep fully and wake up without an alarm clock. I’m making it a point to remember to take nature’s chill pill, magnesium, to give my nervous system a fighting chance. I’ve returned to drinking Hibiscus tea steeped from dried Jamaican Sorrel flowers plus two tablespoons of both lemon juice and honey. Then allowing it to cool completely before consuming it within a matter of minutes. I’m letting my intellectual curiosity have a field day. Y’all, I sat and watched a WIRED video interview with a licensed mortician!
I kicked mindfulness and meditation up a notch by watching Michael Jackson’s long time drummer, Jonathan Sugarfoot Moffett. I watched video after video entranced with when he would stray from the basic drumbeat to hit the cymbals, perform a subtle drum roll, or maintain some complex foot pedal rhythm on the base drum while simultaneously crafting the tempo of our favorite songs with his hands.
One of my biggest regrets is not mastering a musical instrument. As much as we hail vocalists, I’ve always been drawn to the instrumentation. I started playing the flute in middle school and took a few piano lessons. I picked up on the language of music fairly quickly but let other hobbies and obligations take priority. Thankfully my ear was tuned enough in that short period of time to carry me all these years allowing me to notice various musical intricacies. It feels kinda like God whispering a secret to my spirit. I said all that say that Mr. Sugarfoot is among several musicians providing the soundtrack to this season of ease that I’m choosing to be in.
Make no mistake about it whatsoever all of this ease is indeed a choice. Pursuing Harmonious Balance is an act of my will. The primary tenet of this ideology is that chaos and instability forever surround us. If we want balance, if we want stability, if we want ease, then we have to impose that balance, stability and ease on to the chaotic situations we find ourselves in. There is nothing about the way 2024 is ending that says I should be happy or feel entitled to ease. If anything the message from the 2024 election is that people like me should very much have a hard life.
Well…message not received. Return to sender!
For as long as I have strength in my body, love in my heart, faith in my spirit, and a sound mind to think with, fear and chaos will not have free reign over any aspect of my life. My life’s purpose does not rise or fall with any disappointment, setback, heartache or circumstance. And I need not end 2024 as if it does.
Onward with ease and Harmonious Balance, my friends!
Johanna
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