I love year end rituals and forcing my brain to go back to the beginning of the year to pick up some things that I did right and some things I could work on in the next year. Seeing how hard it is to recall what happened in Jan 2023, I got a brainwave that just like I maintain an excel sheet for books read, maybe I should maintain one for the year that was.
But let future Suchita worry about these things. It’s time for now Suchita’s gratitude list.
#1: I travelled a lot this year. I mean it was so much that I have run out of casual leaves. What an immensely satisfying problem to have, no?
#2: I learnt that I’m not a broken toy to be fixed. I learnt to put into words what I was feeling. Just labelling them helped me work with them.
#3: I have been learning to lean on people, asking for help when I need and becoming okay with saying, I don’t know everything.
#4: My short story got published in the Blogchatter Book of Thrillers. It has been a double win for me, first as a team member and second as a writer. The response has been phenomenal and the feedback is something we’re looking forward to incorporating in 2024.
#5: Writing really kicked my butt and I have been forced to be okay with it. It’s not like I did not write at all (this is my 50th blog post of 2023 and I have written a 1 lakh word novel too) but it forced me to acknowledge the fear that if I’m not a writer, who am I?
#6: I read some amazingly cool books this year and I made full use of my Kindle Unlimited subscription. Not to forget reading the JCB Longlist broke something in me and I’m currently reading (and enjoying) Prophet Song by Paul Lynch that won the Booker Prize this year. Never thought I’d read something from the Booker List but what can you do!
#7: Started the habit of journalling to make sense of myself as I underwent the journey of unbecoming who I thought I was. As someone who even overthinks the choosing of a nail polish colour, journalling has been a great tool in cutting the mind chatter and not allowing the spiralling thoughts to take me away from something I wish to do.
#8: Professionally speaking, I got to be a part of Happinetz’s journey. Right from having a front row seat to the ins-and-outs of what it takes to design and launch a tech product to the marketing of it, listening to stories and seeing it featured in some of the best news publications in the country, it was a reminder to have patience with your dreams. You will get where you have to reach.
#9: Meeting Blogchatter’s community members, first during the birthday meet-up and then at the offline retreat in Varanasi, was an experience I cannot wait to repeat. Knowing this community and platform mean so much to so many people, that I get to be a part of it everyday is probably a permanent highlight of my life.
#10: Thank you to my family and friends for holding space for me. Applauding myself for showing up, for starting to allow myself to make mistakes, to failing and yet pushing forward. Thank you Suchita for keeping the love, kindness and grace alive.
Here’s to a fun and adventurous 2024. Love, hugs and cheers!
This post is part of The Year & You Blog Hop hosted by Swarnali Nath.
Header Photo by George Dolgikh
tales of Suchita 
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