WHAT 2021 TAUGHT ME
IT WAS A LOT. What started out as a very normal year turned into a whirlwind of new possibilities. Along with those possibilities came a lot of challenges, of course. But what would life be without the ability to overcome challenges? here are the top 5 things that I learned this past year. They may seem simple, and they are, but they are very important.
STRETCHING IS IMPORTANT.
I knew this, but it wasn’t until this year that I really felt it. One day, I decided to drop into the splits without stretching (always a mistake). My body then proceeded to hurt for about a week after. This had never gone on for more than about 2 days before this. It was at this moment that I knew…I needed to change my ways. In 2022, I will turn 30 years old. Yes, I know this is still quite young, but it’s older than my friends were when they told me their bodies started hurting more. I have been friends with people older than me all of my life and they warned me that my flexibility would not stay around forever. They were right. It wasn't until this year that I realized how important it is to take time each day to stretch. It doesn’t need to be a deep stretch. It could be taking 15-30 minutes out of the day to just sit and be. One of my drama teachers in middle school taught us to meditate. I hated it. I ended up getting a headache every time. This was until I learned that meditation comes in many different forms. Taking time to sit, stretch, or just breathe is all meditation and it really is medicine. Movement is so important in everything that I do and I need to remember that my flexibility needs attention.
2. 2020 LEFT A LOT OF BAGGAGE.
Speaking of meditation, I needed a lot of that this past year. 2020 brought on a lot of stress and anxiety that I really didn’t deal with. Just when things started to feel okay in the world, something new and typically terrible came to be. Bottling it up and moving on just wasn’t cutting it after a while. That stress and anxiety that I was feeling internally started to show itself in more and more ways. I wasn’t having fun. I almost felt like it was selfish to have fun. For a while, I had stopped skating other than in class. I wasn’t doing my hair and makeup unless I was filming that day. I stopped cooking every day. I just wasn’t myself. Whenever I am in a weird mood, Taylor tells me to “take a lap”. This is his suggestion to take a step (or roll) outside to breathe and reset. It took a lot of this for me to get it together. One day, I just kind of snapped out of it. I realized what I was doing was not working and I took some steps to change it. I started looking up recipes again and cooking a few times a week. I got a library card and started reading all of the books that have been on my list for years. I started skating for fun! Most importantly, I started talking. I started talking about what was on my mind, ideas I had, and I started asking for help when I needed it.
3. COMMUNICATION IS KEY.
Sometimes I try so hard to say the “right” thing that I don’t say anything at all. It is very helpful to ask questions and say how you feel - even if you feel like it will sound “stupid”. Sometimes it’s better to say too much than nothing at all. Life is too short and too wild to hold things in. Communication took on a whole new meaning for so many people in 2020. For many couples and/or roommates, this was the first time living and working together. There was no escape from each other. It is a strange and beautiful thing to spend so much time with another human. I loved it! Taylor and I both loved it. We loved it so much that we decided to go into business with each other. Communication is hard enough in a romantic relationship, but becoming business partners is so much harder! I’ve never been great at communicating in business and my shortcomings were suuuuper highlighted when my business partner knew me so well. This is a very good and bad thing. Good because it really forced me to be real and start communicating even though I really didn’t want to at times. Bad because it totally sucked. Haha! I learned A LOT, and I am happy to say I am a lot better at communicating now than i was at the start of 2021. Communication and respect are the most important parts of any relationship. If you have that, then you should be good to go.
4. IT’S ALL ABOUT BALANCE.
I become a bit obsessive with things. Growing up, I was obsessed with skating and getting good grades. The skating thing never went away! Now i’m obsessed with work. I love to work. If it weren’t for the people around me reminding me to stop working so much, I would work all day, every day. It is a beautiful thing to love what you do, but there is a point when it takes over too much of your life. it’s about balance and i’m learning that every day. Work is important, but it’s not everything. It typically doesn’t seem like there is enough time in the day to do everything: have fun, learn new things, exercise, rest, work…but there really is. That was a big lesson for me this year. I learned that if I start the day slowly, it sets up my mood for the day. I like to start the day with coffee and spending time outside with the cats. I try not to pick up my phone for about 30 minutes after I wake up. After that, I start to plan my day and discuss that plan with Taylor. Then we start working. If I want to take a break, I do. If I want to skate for fun, I do. It is important to take time for hobbies, relaxation, conversation, and everything in between. What if your hobby is also your job? That’s roller skating for me. I have to carve time out of each day to just skate. It’s difficult to not think about certain skills or choreography, but I need to just roll. It definitely helps to turn on some music and just groove. Sometimes it’s 10 minutes and sometimes it’s 2 hours. A lot of the time about 30 minutes into me having fun, i get an idea and then it goes back to work! That’s okay! Balance.
5. JUST BREATHE.
I had heard of breath work before, but had never paid too much attention to it. The most work on breathing I had done was in my competitive skating routines. I used to choreograph spots to breathe into my routines so that I wouldn’t forget! Sometimes I would hold my breath and be absolutely exhausted by the time I finished, but I never translated that to my “real life” until this year. When I would find myself getting overwhelmed in a conversation, argument, or any scenario, i started focusing on my breathing. Just focusing on how my chest raises and relaxes is calming. When i need to really take a moment to bring myself back to reality and ground myself, i’ll take one or two super deep breaths and that usually does the trick. if you have an Apple Watch, there is a setting that will ask you if you want to take a moment to breathe at certain times in the day. This has been so helpful. There is also a setting that asks you if you want to take a moment to reflect. It gives you a question to think on for a minute and forces you to stay still and calm. Something so small and simple has the power to completely shift my mind for the rest of the day. It’s wild and so helpful! I really encourage you to try it.
It’s funny how the little things seem to get lost on us sometimes. Breathing? it’s so simple. communicating? it’s obviously important, But sometimes we need a reminder and that’s okay. I plan to take these lessons into 2022 (and beyond) and become a better human along the way. If you need a little reminder, i hope this blog does that for you. I would love to hear what you learned in 2021. it doesn’t matter if it is a huge lesson or a little tiny one…they are all equally as important. So…
