Wishing For All The Best In 2023

I am entering this new year with peace in my heart. Which is a relatively new feeling. There is no worry or stress about what 2023 holds and what is to come. I’m wishing for all the best in 2023 and am devoted to working hard to make as much goodness happen as possible.

This coming year holds much uncertainty. My boy child is talking about moving out come summer as he nears his 21st birthday. My girl child will be graduating from Woodstock High School in May. I may or may not be selling my house and looking for a new place to live and work (sorry, Chris. You know a move will mean a new studio build). Different physical health issues that have been a nuisance for months are still on the table with specialists for figuring out and getting under better control. And I’m expecting a diagnosis for some form of ADD and being on the autism spectrum. Hello weirdness for stepping into a room with answers that will explain a lot of my life for feeling like an outsider. So I’m wishing for all the best in 2023.

Letting Go of 2022

Yet in the midst of all these unknowns, I’m walking into this year feeling much lighter and ready to handle whatever happens. The people and clients who filled 2022 were wonderful, yet personally I was a wreck emotionally and mentally. I had lost my bonus dad over Thanksgiving 2021, so a whole year of new days without him and wishing I could hear his voice while talking through my life was incredibly hard. So many of my daily facebook memories from years past pointed out his interactions with me and how intrinsically close our lives were woven, making his loss feel even larger.

I dwelled on the loss of my marriage, where it went wrong, and why I never felt like enough in it for the majority of the twenty years together. Which ultimately made me angrier. Letting go is hard and 2022 taught me I really suck at it. I’m wishing for all the best in 2023.

Flu Spoiler. It Sucks.

A week before Christmas, I got sick and felt awful. Two days later, I tested positive for the flu (type A. it’s the one that can be passed between humans and animals, if you didn’t know). Two days after that, both my boyfriend and my girl child tested positive for it, too. Which effectively canceled all three of our family Christmas celebrations. What can I say, I share everything with my people. The boy child was lucky only because he’s never home enough to get anything other than clothes.

Getting Away To A Little Cabin In The Woods

Chris had reserved a cabin for us in northern Kentucky for the five days following Christmas. I was hesitant about going as we both felt crummy when it was time to drive up. Who wants to be away from home when they feel awful? But we went anyway and it was a whole lot of downtime in a tiny cabin listening to each other breathe and cough. Playing on our phones. Reading. Watching the rest of Amazon’s third season of Jack Ryan and their first season of Peripheral. Sleeping. And talking through a lot.

Our talks were good and needed. They made me realize I needed to make a serious change in my outlook for the future and let go of the past. I don’t want to waste anymore time dwelling on things that can’t be changed. Nor do I want to miss out on time with people who very clearly show me I’m important in their lives.

Wishing For All The Best in 2023

So I’m wishing for all the best in 2023. But really, I know it’s going to take more than just wishing. It will be a lot of hard work and effort on my part. To ditch past habits that are comfortable, protective, and self-serving. To worry about only what I can control. And to reclaim that strong belief in myself from my youth that I could do anything I wanted if I put my mind to it. My focus is strong when I know what I want. For this coming year, I will be taking care of the things I need to and not avoiding them. On the homefront. In my business. And most of all, in the relationship that fuels my hunger for being a better person who does the right thing.

I’m excited to have Chris by my side. As my partner, set builder, and outdoor lighting assistant in my business. And as a friend, confidante, home fixer, counselor, lover, and so much more in my personal life. I love that he loves to make photographs of us together wherever we go. And I’m thrilled we both felt up to going out around Shepherdsville and Louisville on our last full day in Kentucky to make these photographs. I’m happy he’s part of my life and I look forward to sharing him with you in 2023. Whether it’s in my personal or professional life, he’s always close. And he makes everything more fun.

I’m Glad You’re Here

With that, I’d like you to know I’m glad you’re here. And I look forward to seeing you in this coming year. I’m wishing you all the best in 2023. May you have good health, financial security, peace in your heart, stability in your mind. And rewarding relationships that make you feel safe, seen, known, and loved.

If you’d like to make photographs for your personal or professional life, I’d love to talk to you about what you need and want. This stuff is my jam. The discussing of details for creating imagery you need to represent yourself professionally. Or documenting the love you share with your people in your everyday and personal life. Learning more about what you want so we can make the overall process as easy and fun as possible. Contact Kelley here for making the photographs you need.