Savoring and Reflection: How I Found New Goodness in an Old Year

Sometimes we are so busy that we don’t stop to appreciate the goodness in our activities or feel grateful for the people in our lives. This can happen to anyone. It happened to me even though I am trained to know better!

In January this year, I was feeling stuck and a bit bored. It was cold but not snowy. That makes for a dull winter here in the north country. The days were getting longer, but I still needed a flashlight and a reflective vest for an evening walk with my dogs on dark narrow streets.

What could I do to bust the boredom?

I’d seen a bunch of streaming shows and was caught up on my watch lists. Check!

My next in-person conference speaking gig was planned for the summer. Yesss!

I’d put a deposit on a back-country hiking tour. Wow!

Still, I complained to a friend that I never DO anything.

“I think you need to savor,”  she said. “Instead of making New Year’s resolutions,” she asked, “what if you make a list of the things you did last year?”

Perhaps you also missed some joy, satisfaction, or moments of humility during your busy life last year. With savoring you can recover them and even enjoy things you may have missed the first time around!

Do I recommend this? Yes! You can let the experiences of your life really soak in and appreciate them all over again. You can be in charge of telling the story of your year and maybe you’ll see that you weren’t really bored. It’s more likely that you weren’t paying attention. You’ll see what I mean.

What follows is the brainstorm I wrote for “What I Did in 2022”. Writing this list showed me the many accomplishments of my work. It also sent me down the delightful rabbit hole of my cell phone photo collection. This is where the real magic happened. Before I knew it, I felt bathed in yumminess!

See some of what I did last year, and enjoy a few of the thousands of pics I sifted through.

~~~~~

Professional

• Private Practice: Coaching/Consultation 185 unique clients

Individuals with learning, attention, and executive function challenges affecting school and college effectiveness, writing, research, study, test-taking, professional communication. 

• Student Coaching: Grades 6-12 –> PhD level graduate school
  • Learning, attention, and executive function challenges across contexts and age span
  • School and college effectiveness, writing, research, study, test-taking 
  • College and grad school search and application process
  • Job search: Neurodiverse recent grads
• Parent-Family Coaching
  • Managing the homefront with learning, attention, and executive function challenges
  • Busting the effort myth/”Giving the Three Gifts of Motivation”
  • “Soft Landings” and psychological safety
• Professionals in private and workplace settings
  • Executive Coaching: Private Practice; Silicon Valley Change
  • Writers’ Workshop: Facilitate professionals in groups/read/review/evaluate pre-publication writing
  • Professional growth and communication 
• Schools and University Programs 
  • Visiting Speaker: Career Services/Columbia University
  • Professional development for  “Giving the Three Gifts of Motivation” 
  • Workshop/presentation series for international schools foundation in Asia (2500 faculty/staff)

• Author/Creative Professional Communications/Speaking

• • • Speaker: Canadian Positive Psychology Association/Webinar
    • Published second edition of Unleash Your Epic Self (2022)
    • Wrote blog posts and marketing for bestseller, The Effort Myth 
    • Created artwork, posted social media marketing, and engaged on 4 sites daily
    • Podcast guest/multiple for The Effort Myth 

Volunteering

• • Canine Training and Community Service
    • 50 hours of training + 50 hours of therapy dog visits as handler with Henry (Golden Retriever) in assisted living/memory care, public safety, and office settings
    • Trained/rehabbed rescue dog, Obi, abandoned by owner. Now works in my office

• • Alumni Board Member: University of Pennsylvania Master of Applied Positive Psychology. Eighth term. In 2022 as an alum I engaged in:
    • Alumni ambassador/connector
    • Alumni book launch support and social media creation coaching for Canva/MetaBusiness Suite, IG, LI; Presentation branding
    • President’s committee to name and secure a unique rose cultivar for Martin EP Seligman’s 80th Birthday 

Personal

Once I escaped from my Covid hovel, I went to NYC and Philly, and enjoyed day trips throughout New England, especially to Cape Cod. That’s the Woods Hole sunset reflected in my car windows at the top of the post. Of course, the best day of 2022 brought my family to me❤️

Savoring is an awesome way to give attention to the things that you might have taken for granted, that happened so quickly you might have missed them, or that seem even more meaningful on further reflection.  Enjoy!

~~~~~~~