New Year, New Life
Over the course of just 18 days, I graduated from college, turned 22, experienced another Christmas, got married, enjoyed a honeymoon, celebrated the arrival of 2022, and moved from Maryland to Washington. As one of my friends wittily expressed, “That’s a lot of life.”
As special as all of these moments were to me, millions of people graduate college, turn 22, get married, and move every year. And our calendars demand the annual tradition that a new year comes one week after Noel. This is a very normal sequence of events…but I got to do it all at once and it has been the most refreshing reset I have ever experienced! The catchphrase “new year, new me” has never felt more real; in fact, “new year, new life” seems more fitting.
In 2022, I have a new occupation, marriage, and hometown to explore and I get to make a thousand first impressions. I’m a blank slate in an unfamiliar space and the possibilities appear to be endless! However, in the whirlwind of all this change I’m precariously holding the delicate balance of dreaming big and grounding myself in reality. I need to believe in the friends I’m going to make, but understand it takes time to find them; I need to cherish the magic of this marriage, but brace myself because life is not all fairytales.
I am an earth-bound human in a dynamic world, though. So, after answering my 36 Questions for Soul-searching, I drafted a personal constitution which articulates the essence of my deep-seated values and my commitment to self-confessed goals:
FAITH
I am Christ’s Beloved, royalty, an example to the universe. I will seek the Creator in His creation and strive to be the beauty this world lacks. I will be guided by God, asking what He has planned for me each day in order to become everything He created me to be. I will remember His transcendence and that I have access to His supernatural. I will look for the glorious in the mundane and delight in His mystery with continual reorientation. I will use worship as a weapon and root my identity in who I am rather than in what I do.
FAMILY
I will be a faithful and dependable wife committed to healthy homemaking, prioritizing order and cleanliness. I will live with dignity, and sophistication, and carry myself with elegant poise on behalf of my family. I will open my doors to offer a welcoming environment of hospitality and view family as something to take care of and belong to.
HEALTH
I will prioritize sleep and strive to live from a posture of rest, peace, and presence. I will make fitness part of my routine and steward my body responsibly, feeding myself with wholesome nourishment.
COMMUNITY
I will put people before productivity and surround myself with life-giving fellowship. I will seek wisdom and mentorship from those who have more experience than I. I will dedicate myself to making others feel confident. I will give and accept compliments and pursue authentic relationships through vulnerable conversations. I will be intentional about knowing when to listen to others’ stories and when to inspire with mine.
CAREER
I will serve as an honest, cooperative employee with integrity and a strong work ethic. I will use my skills as an eloquent writer to communicate truth and positively impact others. I will treat my gifts as superpowers and strive to influence my audiences with the aesthetic creations of a word artist through personal and professional writing. I will be motivated by competition, still cheering when others win. I will harness my natural inclination toward independence, but remain humble enough to stay curious, ask questions, and seek help. I will pursue excellence in all of my achievements and responsibly steward my finances.
GROWTH
I will continue to try things that are new or that I am not good at. I will remain committed to continual physical, emotional, and intellectual development and growth. I will emphasize academic, historical, scientific, literary, social, political, and spiritual education, and I will balance burnout and stagnation by continually embracing healthy change and variety.
With these words as a reference, my goal for 2022 is to walk through life sitting with a sense of realism while holding all the childish wonder in my heart, and to wake up everyday asking God, “What do You have planned for me today?” knowing He is transcendent, anything could happen, and whatever does is good.