IT’S 2025! As 2024 came to a close I sat and reflected on all the major things that happened. I started the year scared as I was about to start radiation and immunotherapy to close out my breast cancer journey. I still had 6 months ahead of me and was just ready to be done. I quite literally couldn’t breathe or hold my breath for more than 15 seconds. I found myself sad and crying and having anxiety about my future and all the things I still wanted to acquire and accomplish. Would I get the house, the job, the baby, travel the world? All of my hearts desires and quite frankly what I felt I was owed after the haze of life I’d been through since 2019.
It felt as though as I talked through my feelings the sense from those around me is that I shouldn’t worry or care about those things and just be happy that I was still here. Just being here wasn’t enough for me. It will never be enough for me. I didn’t survive to not live. So in that, I decided 2024 was going to be the year of more and I was going to live fully. And I did just that.
I completed my cancer treatment journey (because cancer journeys never end) and rang my final bell. I ate things I couldn’t eat during chemo. Even started doing restaurant review. I smelled fresh flowers and made the most beautiful bouquet for my mom on Mother’s Day. Solo travel and bucket list concerts. I declared that I wanted to do more domestic travel and got a new dream job that brought me back home with a huge increase that has me on the road every month. Took my first vacation in 3 years, and blew the dust off my makeup brushes and did bridal makeup for my best friend’s wedding. I grew my hair out and embraced so many different looks and versions of myself. I stepped foot back into a gym and did cardio and lifting. I lost over 20lbs of the steroid weight from treatment. I partied and spent time with friends, ate copious amounts of seafood and laughed until I cried.
I lost my grandmother and that rocked me. She was a dynamic woman who’s story is important to me and has shaped me even when I didn’t know it. However, losing her allowed me time to get closer with some family members and I’m so grateful for that. Building and maintaining relationships with the women in my family is super important to me and something I want to be more intentional about. I’m not sure what my legacy will be, but I know it has to do with how I show up for women.
I really got in my advocacy bag by sitting on panels and became and Advisory Board Member for Bexa Equity Alliance (BEA), an organization that provides life saving free breast cancer screenings for women in need in underserved areas. I also was able to raise close to $4,000 for BEA with the help of my amazing online community. I was invited by Color Vision to be a keynote speaker and share my story during the Creator Summit luncheon. You can read my keynote speech here.
I did everything I wanted and more in 2024, and I’m so grateful. I returned to parts of me I never knew I was missing and needed so much. I TRULY LIVED and entered my season of ease. As we prepare to embark on 2025, I pray that have a safe return to yourself and whatever that looks like for you. It’s only the 2nd day of the year (as I write this) so if you don’t have it all figured out yet, that’s quite alright. You still have time, but more on that later.
