75 Things That Brightened my 2021
This blog post is inspired by Austin Kleon and his list.
If I think about 2021 as a whole, I think… yikes.
It was not an easy or gentle or kind year for me in anyway. I felt very much chewed up and spit out, especially with those last few months. And I know a lot of other folks felt this way too.
Yet while the year as a whole was blah, there were a lot of pretty damn amazing things that happened during those 365 days.
I’d totally miss it and write this year off if I didn’t go back, reflect, and review.
So here’s 75 things that made 2021 pretty great:
Was on my 1st podcast — Cozy and Connected with Charlotte Kaye — chatted about joy and love.
Interviewed by Holly Maree, talking about the sacral, and connected to so many fellow Manis.
Organized Apple Notes but honestly still have way too much and will not use the organization, but still felt good!
Got in touch with my inner hot girl and launched Hot Girl Summer Energy Booster freebie
Made my first Pinterest pin.
The Energy with Ryan community grew and grew and I’m so thankful for everyone! We are so powerful together. As a community witch (or gathering witch, I’m still workshopping it), community is vital to me and my business.
Someone mentioned me as an emo mani to follow and I felt so honored. As a 3/5, I feel it is my duty to share my experience as a mani and I take that very seriously. I typically share on Instagram stories but am hoping to share in more permeant spaces.
Asked an author for an advanced copy of her book and I GOT IT! Like, hello powerful mani voice, I love you!
Had amazing intuitive session with Ninth House Life. Got some confirmation of my own feelings (which honestly made me feel so good and less crazy) and met 2 angel guides of mine!
Received a free session to have someone help craft my offers which is where the membership bubbled up from.
Had an invaluable biz coach session with Johanna Renoth which totally helped me see myself and my business from a new perspective and allowed me to step more fully into my power.
Created and launched my Rewired & Limitless: Burnout Edition program! This was a powerful creative urge straight from divine and something that is very much needed. I pushed passed all the limiting beliefs keeping me from launching it (is it too soon? should I get more knowledge under my belt, etc…) and honestly just leaned into my 3/5 experimenter and created the beta version of it! I am so proud of it and it was so fun and very life changing. Can’t wait to launch round 1 soon!
Invested in myself with a 5 week energy healing intensive from another energy healer and released so much baggage. It was a perfect way to start 2021.
Rediscovering my creativity and realize that I’ve always been a creative and always will be. And I need to cultivate more space for it in my life.
Deepening my internet friendships and creating new ones. I am so in awe of the people in my circle and it’s been something I’ve been manifesting for a while.
Had a wonderful herbal consultation with Hale and Heart and fell in love with wood betony and california poppy.
Survived 100% of the days that I have lived thus far.
And survived October-December which were very challenging months for me. Some of the heaviest since 2019.
Read Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer and it became my #1 favorite book ever.
Got my library card and fell back in love with the library. Constantly put books on hold.
Read Austin Kleon which spurred my creativity renaissance.
Welcomed so many new babies into my life! Celebrated my pregnant friends and excited for their babies in 2022
Hosted a top tier baby shower for my cousin with bomb ass food, activities, and ambiance. I made fancy charcuterie, a lemon pasta salad, and butterfly pea lemonade (she had a citrus fruit craving).
The painting activity we did at baby shower went viral on tiktok.
Continued to co-creating Rising Session with MysticRose.Co. So proud of our work together and our community and the ripples it creates out in the world.
Met up with my travel buddy to go to a wedding in Nantucket during the summer -- my first time outside in the world since before 2020. It was my first time on a Northern beach town and it was... very different from my own. Totally enjoyed walking around, looking at the gardens, and peeping people’s fashion.
We ended the trip in DC and I got to visit all my old haunts, see the old house I used to live in, and went to my favorite gay bar in Crystal City.
Also ate the best meal of the whole trip in DC at Modena and it’s now in the top 5 best meals of my life, specifically the tomato heirloom salad (I knowwwww, sounds so basic but it was honestly life changing) and the lamb ragu with homemade gluten free pasta.
Played and lost bingo at the gay bar and did very poorly at karaoke. But I represented Cher and that’s all that mattered.
Made my own sourdough starter from a powder starter that I bought in 2020 when everyone else was getting into bread.
Made my first sourdough boule that was very, very flat but had amazing texture and flavor! I used einkorn all purpose flour which is a very low gluten ancient grain.
Grew peas for the first time and fell in love with eating them fresh off the vine. My spring garden will always have peas moving forward.
Potatoes were so fun to grow and produced such a fun and abundant harvest. Will always grow them too. Also, fresh red potatoes are ridiculously creamy and everyone needs to experience freshly harvest potatoes in their life.
Found a new recipe to add to my repertoire — gluten free sourdough discard waffles.
Created the Energy Clearing Collection: three ~20 minute energy healings to clear your energy, clear your space, and get you back to feeling grounded and balanced. Having a daily clearing and protecting ritual is in the top best 5 things I’ve done for myself and I love how this makes it easier for folks to incorporate into their daily life. Just hit play! (And I love it for myself as well… I love having pre-recorded energy healings to play whenever I want so I can just receive.)
Went to vortex fest (as a part of Gala Darling’s Vortex) which was on my 2021 bucket list/vision board.
Bought Epic Bones Affirmation Deck after months of anticipation. I LOVE it. You can see it in action here.
Got even closer to the Earth this year and living in accordance to the seasons. I lived by the moon and flowed with the seasons. It continues to change my life — helping me ground, release toxic capitalistic and white supremacist beliefs, and feeling more magical than ever before.
Invested in myself and bought Holsiticisms Digital Altars and it completely changed the way I viewed social media. I love being able to be creative in that way now.
Bombed an offering earlier in the year (the Monthly Expansion) and then felt bad about myself and got into my head. Looking back, I didn’t do any manifestor informing about it and didn’t market enough. And that’s ok! Lessons learned. It’s now a wayyy cooler idea — the membership! I’m currently celebrating this bombing! Cheers!
Began using Spotify as a divination tool and it’s so fun. I’m a big music person; sound quickly transforms every cell in my body.
Had a few self-led photoshoots and had a blast. Dressing up was a favorite way to play as a kid. With covid, I haven’t been doing much dressing up at all. Or even really putting on pants. Creating more fun photoshoot opportunities in 2022 is a must!
Got into creating memes. I make myself laugh and that’s the only thing that matters.
Held a free Healing Your Burnout Workshop that was very successful and fun. Burnout is so prevalent and we’re not taught about the nervous system (which I’ve gone on a deep deep dive the past few years) and how it all ties in.
Created a Nervous System Energy Healing freebie for that workshop that I now use at least 10x a week. I play it on loop as a way to effortlessly support my nervous system. And I use it while I journal, meditate, work, etc… It’s currently my most used energy healing of mine.
Turned carving pumpkins into a manifestation practice.
Cultivated so much joy from my garden — from my small cantaloupe to my small watermelon, my 9ft tall sunflowers, and everything else…. So much joy and happiness.
Found a very rare photo of me and my dad that I thought I lost (after asking my guides to help me find it). I only have 4ish photos of us from high school onward and 2 of them are right before he passed so it was very, very special. It involved lots of tears. And just complete trust in my guides. Like, wow… what a huge manifestation and proof.
Accepted that I have ADHD (undiagnosed) and it changed my life. Learning about neurodivergence and learning tips has really done so much for me this year, including accepting me totally, organizing my days differently, physically organizing my things differently, and so much more.
I applied to be one of Lizzo’s Big Grrrls which I was terrified to do and so excited I did. I didn’t get it but I showed the Universe that I was READY to uplevel and put myself out there.
Launched Rising Session Secret Circle with MysticRose.Co and so thankful for our Sisters. We have grown and elevated together and it filled and healed such deep pieces of me. And I know it’s been powerful for others too.
It also fulfilled a 2021 vision board item of facilitating my own women’s circle!
Got deep into my Human Design Sense (touch) and went test driving Subarus so I could get a true feel of my dream car
Received powerful comments re: my impact and the impact of Energy with Ryan. Being shown their impact is the best, best, best thing for a manifestor.
Supported my mom through her full knee replacement and all that entailed, which was a lot. It was 10 years coming.
Printed all my garden photos from 2020 and 2021 so I can great a physical book of literal growth.
Experimented a lot with morning rituals: tried tapping, strength training, yoga, tapping, morning pages, energy work, a walk, channeling, earthing, doing it indoors, doing it outdoors, drinking tea, etc…
Supported my local community and friends with herbal tea and snail mail when they were feeling sick/under the weather.
Tried my hand at winter gardening (not doing too hot, lol). But at least I tried!
Dried and pressed marigolds I grew from seeds. Hoping to use it to dye something one day.
Ate multiple meals with most of the things from my garden: asian cucumber salad, boiled potatoes, peas, banana peppers.
Canned strawberry jelly, banana peppers, and pickled red onions. And have really enjoyed eating those bright pieces of summer on the dark winter days.
Learned how sunflower seeds came to be and I appreciate my sunbutter so much more now.
Reached hundreds of folks through my free energy healing, bringing accessible energy healing to the community.
Here are two of my favorites: Manifesting Energy Healing and Rewire Your Beliefs Energy Healing.
Got a really good paper planning routine going and then immediately switched to Notion and now it’s chaos. And that’s okay.
Finalized standard operation processes and systems in my business. And then realized they all need editing, lol.
Took multiple BIG and inspired actions in my personal life with something that was big and scary and intimidating. I feel invincible.
Invested DEEP into learning more about my human design with Holly Maree. And fell more in love with my intense and fiery and cautious chart.
Tapped into my akashic records for myself and for the business. Received really cool insight that was different (more off the wall) and yet still similar than the channeling I do with my intuition/higher self.
Listened to my guides and akashic records and paused 1x1s even though that felt scary and going against the grain.
Began to cultivate and get used to the idea of a membership (even though I told myself I’d never do one…which is a reoccurring theme for me of things I’m going to end up doing) because my guides/records told me to do so.
Reached out to folks to be featured as a special guest in their own memberships. Got a “not right now” which isn’t a no! Also, continued to build my tolerance of “getting rejected” because it wasn’t even scary or hard to do.
Continued to do belief work on myself around being a business woman/entrepreneur/self-employed.
Let myself cry and be seen on the internet. It’s taken me a long time to lean into my vulnerability and emotions and now I’m proud of my soft, big heart.
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