New Thoughts, For a New Year
New Year, Fresh Start: Embracing Authenticity and Unfiltered Creativity in 2025
It’s a brand-new year, and I’m late as always. I told myself I’d be up and going by January 8, and now it’s January 21. However, I tend to be late unless I’m coaching clients or in sessions. I’ve tried the “fake out” time when someone gives you a “you need to leave by” and have it be ten minutes earlier than I need to leave, but somehow my body sees past it. Yes, I’m blaming my body, but in all fairness, it’s partially true. A quick hair check, running to grab something you forgot, or changing jackets because of how cold it is outside. That’s the body, right?
When writing advice that doesn’t have a hard deadline, however, I suck. I’ll be the first one to admit it. I’m terrible, though hopefully, I’m worth the wait. I love a near year because it is a fresh start. Not only a clean slate but a beginning to do whatever the hell you want to do. You can make a bucket list of things to do, try, read, places to go or things to achieve, and you have an entire year to get those things done. It’s an exciting time and one of my favorite holidays.
This year, I’ve begun “Ask ‘M.” and I know it’s going to be so much fun. It’s why I’m a little late; I have work, family, and other obligations, but this is what is going to give me a little giggle. I love helping people; it’s what I do other than writing. Yes, I’m a writer, and I’m an active and thriving life coach. Most of my writing is geared toward helping others heal in one way or another, and then I do direct coaching sessions. The point being, everyone knows who I am. In journalism, you’re you. It’s all facts, and pseudonyms steal your credibility. You are your reputation, and you want to drive people toward you and your practice. In my practice, life coaching is almost intimate one-on-one sessions. Of course, people know who you are during those sessions. Here, I get to hang on to some anonymity aside from the “Who and Why ‘M,” which gives a much more thorough, official, and professional reason. (They’re all true, too. This fun is just an add-on.)
Here, I get my shot at a little cloak and dagger. It’s fun, and I have the chance to be unfiltered if I feel like it. I’m still sensitive about what others write to me, but I’m a little looser in my responses and deliveries. Authentic, but I get to be unrated. I’m not thinking about my clients and how they’ll respond because my audience is you, dear readers, and you’re a mixed bag.
That’s what I’m determined this year will be. Fun yet unfiltered, and not just here. Working hard in my passions, even if someone thinks I’m a bitch. I’ve more than earned my cred to be one. Hopefully, eventually, making a tiny bit of money for the time, effort, and work I do here, but it isn’t expected. This blog is just a chance to use my experiences to help others without worrying about my reputation or my approach to things or “they said that!” Because sometimes, I will say “that.”
It's a beautiful near year full of so many possibilities. I hope you take advantage of them as much as I intend to. All the best.
Love, M