From Patience to Love: 2022 in Review
One of my favorite ways to reflect on my day is using the rose, thorn, bud format with my partner or friends. Rose is the part of your day that stands out as the most special or positive. Thorn is the most challenging part of your day and bud is what you are looking forward to in the coming days. Since 2016, my dear friend Nicole Antoinette and I have been podcasting together. Over the past few years, on her monthly podcast for her Patreon community, we share our rose, thorn, and buds about the various domains of wellness, money, relationships, and work. We recently recorded a podcast on our rose, thorn, and buds of 2022 and I thought I’d share some of my reflections on this past year with all of you:
My Rose(s):
I feel deeply grateful that this past year had a lot of roses. The first rose was graduating with my masters in Mindfulness-based Transpersonal Counseling from Naropa University. My final year of graduate school included an internship that challenged me and completing my internship was a big rose!
Another rose was moving across the country from my hometown of Cambridge, MA to Flagstaff, Arizona with my partner and our dog. It has been exciting to explore beautiful Northern Arizona. In Flagstaff, I have had the joy of starting work as a psychotherapist at Beyond the Pines, a wellness collective. I feel grateful to get to work with an amazing team of therapists and clients.
My partner and I got engaged after nearly five years together! We both proposed to one another— he proposed to me on a mountain bike ride and I proposed to him on a trail run. :)
Thorn:
My biggest thorn has been struggling with chronic left foot pain. I can still remember the day the foot pain began, January 11th 2022 after returning home from an icy run in Boston. I have seen at least a dozen different doctors, chiropractors, physical therapists, and invested in the entire kitchen sink of strengthening and mobility exercises/tools and yet, my foot pain still persists. My foot pain has impacted my running, my ability to walk pain-free, and sometimes wakes me up at night. The foot injury has been an opportunity to practice patience and increase my capacity to sit with the uncertainty of not knowing when it will resolve.
Bud(s):
My buds include improving in my work as a psychotherapist as I continue to deepen my relationships with my current clients and learn from new clients.
Another bud is the launching of a retreat company that integrates running, mindfulness, and Sports Psychology. Our first retreat will be held in August 2023 in Flagstaff, AZ— stay tuned for more information on the retreat sign up in my newsletter in early February 2023!
Word of 2022 - Patience: My word of the year for 2022 was patience. I strengthened my capacity to be patient with myself through my thorny foot situation, studying for the National Counselor Exam, navigating a cross country move, and in the ways I talk to myself and communicate with my loved ones.
Word of 2023 - Unconditional Love: My word for 2023 is unconditional love. In the past few months of seeing therapy clients, I have noticed that most of my clients struggle with having kind internal self talk. As I have explored their self talk, I have been inspired to deepen my relationship to self compassion and believe that at the heart of how we show up in the world, is how we show up inside to ourselves. I feel moved to practice greater unconditional love with myself, the thorns I will face in the new year, and all those I encounter.
What was your rose, thorn, and bud of 2022? Do you have a word for 2023? Feel free to comment below or email me directly at hello@juliahanlon.com.
Happy New Year! In love and gratitude for YOU!
