Goodbye 2024. . .
Compared to previous years, 2024 felt like an establishing year. It was hard and good, and several times it almost felt like it would never end. 2024 was such a long year.
It was long enough to establish new things—new growth, new relationships, new roots. This year was unlike any I’ve experienced before. And now, on the other side, I can say that hopefully, every year to come won’t be so revolutionary.
Whether it’s the development of my frontal lobe, or simply the passing of time—this was the year to establish good roots. I laughed, I grieved, I grew, I watched, I practiced, I taught, I loved, and I worked. The playfulness of years past was not nearly as present this time around. In previous years’ videos, you can visibly see how much I played and enjoyed the lightheartedness of youth. The folly of youth—however wise I may or may not have previously been—was beautifully evident. I don’t regret it, nor look down on it. However, I can plainly see that something has shifted. 2024 was a transition year, and it took me all year to see it. It took editing a video, where I was forced to look at my entire life in a year, to realize that this year truly was different.
I heard that 2020 put everyone in a place of static. However old we were when the pandemic hit, we remained. We didn’t grow, we didn’t progress—we desperately held tight to what we felt we missed. A global phenomenon of people subconsciously refusing to move on. Lord help us.
I have always confidently been content in the space I am in. But this year made me consciously aware that the next “phase” of growing up is no longer a phase of growing up—I’m grown. It will now, and forever, be a phase of growth. And in order to grow, you must establish good roots. I truly believe the Lord has established new roots for me in 2024. It was different because it was time for me to be different.
So, I am moving forward. With dear friends by my side, a cherished trust and relationship with my parents, and new bags and burdens that I shall do my best to cast to the Lord, I’m looking forward to this new phase. To the things that come with those established roots. To the challenges and dreams that come with growing. I am looking forward—not to anything specific, but simply forward.
The hopes I had for 2024 were a mixed bag when it came to realization and what actually happened. In 2023’s video, you can clearly and plainly see one specific hope. But not every prayer gets answered the way you want. Coffee shops close, kitties pass away, brides stop replying, and some relationships never recover. But that doesn’t mean I am irrecoverably depressed. I am sad. I notice the space left. But I look up to the Lord and ask for an answer. And do you know what He said? A verse I have held dear since I was 17 years old:
Be joyful in hope,
Patient in affliction,
Faithful in prayer.
—Romans 12:12
It was, and apparently will continue to be, my compass.
So, on the first day of 2025, a year we have all just met for the very first time, I say absolutely nothing. I simply pick up my things, go to the couch, and plan out my week. Because the holiday is over, and it’s time to look forward.
Goodbye, 2024.