You don't have to be cool.

2024 is the year of listening to what truly feels exciting.

Hello Carousellers,

Welcome to 2024. And to all newbies, welcome to this newsletter! This letter is for people who are energised by having many interests, and supports you to focus on what feels alive.

Today is known as ‘Blue Monday’ - supposedly one of the most depressing days of the year. It was blue in a different way for me today. I had a day of quality time booked in with my sister and we went for a gorgeous walk along the Exe estuary. The winter sky was such a bright blue and wild geese kept flying over us. I was reminded of Mary Oliver’s poem and read it out to my sister as we walked along. You may remember that it begins:

‘You do not have to be good.’

One of my commitments to myself this year is to let go of this sabotaging need to be liked. Successful. ‘Famous’. To be on the accepted, ‘cool’ list. Doing things because of how they’ll be perceived. It’s been a sneaky little bugger for years, and it has to stop.

Because since moving to Brighton I’ve been struck by how I have everything I need to feel truly content: A community in my home and neighbourhood; friends who live so close by they ‘call on me’ like when we were at school; hours and hours outside in nature moving my body; sunsets and sunrises; freezing seas and steaming saunas; nourishing, shared meals; playing music with others. And, not to be minimised, enough money from my fulfilling, part-time work to calm my nervous system and fuel my creativity.

In the end, it’s quite simple. And it’s also quite private and small. It’s not about reaching lots of people or having a following. It’s not about winning anything. Or achieving an award. This might be a stage I am in my career: I’ve been working for myself for 10 years and perhaps I don’t need to keep the hustle going in the same way. Perhaps I can ride the wave of the work I put in at the start. Or perhaps this is exactly what I wanted all along.

So often I have created from shoulds.

I should have a podcast

I should write a book

I should have an online group course

This year, as I thought about professional resolutions, I really tuned into what felt exciting for me. Regardless of who finds it. Regardless of whether it gets a big reception. Things I want to do because I feel energised by them.

And these are the three that I came up with:

1. Making a music video for a comedy song I’ve written about dry robes. It will be out by the end of February.

2. Getting my ‘Letting Go’ conversation cards professionally made and sold in shops (aim for the Autumn).

3. Practising and recording an epic 1hr DJ set of the 90s mash-ups I’ve been mixing, and playing a live set in the summer.

So there they are; the things at the front of my 2024 professional Carousel.

They might change; they might morph. I hope they do. I hope I leave room for serendipity and the unknown.

Sending you all love as you arrive in this new year. Remembering we are still in the depths of winter and there is no pressure to know anything yet. These goals of mine emerged from deep listening, and lots of space. Give yourselves that too.

Big hug,

Sarah