Hello, Renrenspeakers! Happy end of the year! Can you believe it – we are wrapping up the end of 2024 and heading into 2025. This time tomorrow, we will officially be halfway between 2020 and 2030.

First, I thank God that I made it through the year to even write this post. Life is truly a blessing. One thing that has really hit me recently is that our days are numbered and are finite. I hope and pray for continuous longevity and covering over my life and the lives of others, God willing.  

Also, HAPPY FOUR YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF RENRENSPEAKS.COM! Technically, it was yesterday (I am a day late!). This time 4 years ago I launched my blog. This has been a wonderful documentation of my life’s reflections. I can see as this blog progresses how much support and growth I have had in my communities throughout the years. Give ya girl some love to celebrate the anniversary!

It definitely has been some time since I last caught up with yall. This post is not focused on any one particular topic. I am here to simply share some of my reflections throughout the year and wrap up with some lessons I learned in 2024!

This year has been one of many ups and downs for me. It has been a HUGE year for me, as I have had many life changes, time to reflect, and growing pains/triumphs. Emotionally, I feel like I have been all over the place. I had some hard conversations and hard realizations that honestly made me so unsure of myself and my various identities at various points of the year. However, through those emotional hardships, I believe have blossomed into a stronger individual who can set boundaries, advocate for her needs, and create space for myself. And for that, I am really proud of myself.

Some highlights of 2024 that I have been blessed to experience include some, but not all, of the following:

• Moving to a new home in a wonderful city central to many sights to see
• Going to concerts and being outside more often
• Cultivating a beautiful relationship with refugees/asylum-seekers through my capstone
• Attending my first OT national conference
• Graduating from OT school and becoming a Doctor of Occupational Therapy
• Passing my NBCOT exam
• My graduation party
• Traveling around the country (Miami, Orlando, Philly) and internationally via my first cruise (Mexico, Honduras)
• Attending a weekly Pyro Pilates class and sticking to it
• Starting my first big girl job as an official OT
• Building and rebuilding community collectively  

Going into 2025, I honestly do not know what the year holds for me. I am hoping that it is one of continuous growth, as always, in all aspects of my life – spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically, professionally, socially, financially – and the list goes on! This will be the first year of my life that I do not hold the “student” identity, so discovering what my next life goals will be shall be an interesting journey, to say the least.

I hope to be generally more positive and have more faith in God for my purpose in life. I think I realized that many times in 2024, I was not truly operating out of faith and positivity, but rather constant fear and worry. As a result, anxiety and a lack of confidence crippled me at various times throughout the year. I want to be better in knowing that I always have God on my side to help me through life and encourage me because as we know, life be LIFING! I am not the only one who is feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders through responsibilities such as student loans, for example (and mind you, mine are a hefty one). I’ve learned that after persevering through my stressors, things always end up being more okay than I thought they would. I probably should channel more Type B energy so that I can live my life well-balanced instead of chronically stressing over little aspects that just may not be that serious at the end of the day.

I am also hoping to be more present on this blog, as it is something that I started during the height of the pandemic as a digital diary. I hope to create more mini blog series, highlighting various stories and life experiences of my peers, colleagues, and loved ones. It helps me stay connected with the world around me.

Thank you to everyone who continues to support me and love on me, whether it is through good vibes, prayers, social media networking, in-person quality time, etc. I am incredibly grateful for another year of life, and cheers to what the next year has in store for us! Happy New Year, everyone!

Peace and love,

Irene