Embracing 2024: From Progression to Connection

In 2023 I dedicated myself to the theme of Progression. To extend my knowledge and bettering myself as a mother, a wife, and a woman. To transform my household, my holistic being, and my career. I created my first visualization board intending to complete it within 2 years. My board included aspects such as starting my business, expanding my family, reconnecting with the crafts that bring me joy, meditating more and stressing less, and being recognized as empathetic and transgenerational. My goals were intentionally chosen to uplift my life and the livelihood of my family. The tasks were of high quality and extremely meaningful to me. I can proudly say that I have initiated and completed a great number of these tasks.

I started Flora, Femme, & Fauna, my perinatal health and wellness organization. I have gained such incredible insight, wisdom, and experience working in the field of maternal health since and am driven by my passion to improve the state of motherhood. I started MOM-ish which wasn’t intentionally listed but became part of the broader scope of progression with the business and have made some magnanimous connections with some phenomenal like-minded women. I embarked on many educational, professional, and personal development endeavors. Some were completed to fruition and others I will just have to come back to when the time is right. I implemented new routines and structures in my household including yoga and meditation and specifically carved out family time. I’ve seen my children grow in mindset, intelligence, communication, wisdom, and respect. I became pregnant and have the opportunity to expand my family. I am being blessed with my first baby girl. I’ve always been crafty but somehow merged off on a creativity-absent tangent in the last two years. So last year, I picked up my paint brushes for the first time in a long time, I revisited sculpting and pottery making, I started making Fabergé eggs, and I am trying to better my skills at croqueting. I did a lot, to say the least. However, each goal was met with determination and a growth mindset. Each goal was attempted to progress myself forward in a significant way.

This year I have decided to build meaningful connections. I am always looking to connect with like-minded women with wisdom beyond my own, with expertise surpassing mine, with experiences matching mine, with interests that match or collaborate with mine, with values that parallel mine. Why is this important? Because being authentic and genuine means being real. It means being true to yourself. It means possessing the claimed character that you are ordained to portray. I believe in my heart of hearts that building significant connections leads to meaningful relationships. With everyone so engaged in social media antics, many relationships begin and end with hitting the “follow” button. The fact of the matter is, that 3 out of 5 Americans have been noted to feel lonely, and that ratio is exponentially increasing. Loneliness occurs when an individual lacks meaningful relationships in their life, when an individual has a deficient level of genuine connection, when a being is isolated from powerful bonds.

I have made being recognized as an empathetic person a priority in my life. My goal is to truly understand people. Understand them for who they are, what they want, how they go about doing it, and why those things are important to them. This inherent willingness to understand beyond my scope of the world is driving me to move farther than that “connect” button on LinkedIn. I want the opportunity to exchange experiences, stories, advice, and insight. I want to supercharge my conversations with positive energy and a sense of communal support. So, asking myself prominent questions about why that button was pressed in the first place. Why did I want to connect with you? How can I focus on that instinctual gravitation? Where can I build bridges that allow both parties to dig deeper into a more sententious bond? So, 2024 is my year for connection. I have progressed myself in such a powerful way that I want to extend that growth to those I connected to. And I now have the willingness to allow others to extend their means of progression to me. I am practicing more active listening. Whereas I used to listen for cues as to find a way to relate to someone. Now I am listening with my whole being. I am listening to what makes them tick. I am listening to what drives them. I am listening to what they want out of life. I am pursuing a path that enables me to validate others. To allow them to be felt, understood, recognized, seen, and heard. I am listening with mind, body, and spirit. Yes, it makes me vulnerable, but how else am I supposed to let others in? How else am I supposed to connect beyond the generic?

So far, this approach has done me well in the sense that the handful of women I have connected with this year have truly made an incredible impact on me. They have filled my time with meaning. They have boosted my confidence. They have uplifted my esteem. They gave me wisdom that was powerful and intrinsic. They have encouraged me to keep moving forward, to keep my head up, and to keep striving for improvement. And I hope I did the same for them.