Intentions For The New Year

(scenes from 2023 above)

The last few years, I’ve come up with words that define my goals for the coming year rather than resolutions which I never seem to keep anyway.

Though the tradition has served me well, this year I’ve been challenging myself to delve a little deeper and really think about how I want to grow in 2023.

I just started rereading The Happiness Project. Have y’all read it?

Soooooo very good and incredibly apropos for this month of fresh starts.

Anyway, I was completely drawn in by the very first line which states: I’d always vaguely expected to outgrow my limitations. One day, I’d stop twisting my hair, and wearing running shoes all the time, and eating exactly the same food every day. I’d remember my friends’ birthdays, I’d learn Photoshop…I’d spend more time laughing and having fun, I’d be more polite, I’d visit museums more often…

Does this tendency to approach life like a dress rehearsal really resonate with anyone else?

It got me thinking about the importance of waking up every morning in full comprehension that I’m living my story right now, so I better make sure I’m living it like the person I want to be!

2022 started out a bit sad and difficult for me if I am being honest. Beginning the year with a breast biopsy really crippled me even after the good news-I just felt like the wind got kicked out of me and I just sort of never recovered from it if that makes any sense at all. The year just presented so many challenges. The hits just kept coming full force with zero time to catch my breath. So much illness, so much money for medical bills, Covid, car repairs, broken espresso machine, k-9 influenza.. the list goes on. ( our health insurance here in the U.S is a whole other story so don’t even get me started)

So many wonderful things happened too -I mean a new place in Santa Fe.. are you kidding me?! You can read all about that here BTW. The ability to work everyday doing something I absolutely love .. are you kidding me?? I have a beautiful life -I know that! I am deeply loved and cared for by my 3 boys . My daughter is blooming in her life. I became an aunt! So many great things!!

But as I take time to reflect on my year I realize that I feel completely overwhelmed. Always. Every single minute. And that feeling is tremendous. Goals, accomplishments, success.. I just want to stop putting so much pressure on myself .

And in 2023-I want to surrender. Not in the dictionary sense of conceding to an opponent or enemy, but in the sense of surrendering to the universe. I want to listen more to signs and my intuition. Surrender to the things I can’t control so that I have enough energy and will to take on the things that I can control.

Last year my word was peace and that didn’t happen 😂 but here’s to hoping surrendering can bring peace!

Be kind 2023. Please be kind. To ALL of us 💕

What is your word? Or do you have any resolutions? Goals?

I will say this year will be a year where I am so focused on getting the Santa Fe home ready, that I cannot take a lot on work wise! I do have some client work and have shifted my sponsorships some but right now my main focus is shifting to begin sharing more design and interior content as well as travel guides and also I do have some BIG goals I would love to share!

For starters, I plan on having a print shop ready by fall of this year with some of my favorite shots of New Mexico, along with calendars and postcards and even wrapping paper. I also will be opening my schedule up to take on one (possibly two) more BIG restaurant clients for my photography and social media management services and would love for them to be in Santa Fe. I have a real strong passion for the restaurant industry and am loving food photography specifically.

I also am excited to begin studying Real Estate and am interested in getting my license.

Soooo lots going on here!!!!

Thanks for reading! Thank you for the love and support!

Always,

Samantha