New Year Resolutions or Year in Review?

Hi Friend,

Sarah here.

As the end of the year is drawing nearer, a friend of mine asked whether I prefer to look back and reflect on the year that has passed or to look to the year ahead and set goals or plans for myself for the one to come. Though the question is most definitely timely and on par with the season, it baffled me, as I realized that I do not tend to do either.

That is not to say that I do not make plans or set goals for myself; I simply haven’t really managed to time them with the end of a calendar year. Consequently, I abandoned new year’s resolutions long ago. I learned that it is much easier for me to implement a change when I decide upon it, while I have all the motivation to actually carry through on it rather than adding it to a list and waiting until the calendar says January 1st.

However, I like the idea of looking back on the year that has passed - and what a year 2023 has been. Friendtimate was launched and as we’re well into season 2, I feel that we have really found our groove - both in terms of podcast content and this newsletter. It’s truly exiting to see a passion project take off. In fact, I wrote a bit about this here.

One of our most popular episodes from season 1 was the Friendship Quiz-episode. We had so much fun making it, so we are bringing quizzing back!

This time, we’ll be playing We’re Not Really Strangers, and we’d love it if you play along with us! True to form, this quiz brings out all the goofiness and silly fun, it was a delight to record. What really sets these quiz-episodes a part in my book is that they let Ricky and I play. They provide a space to just be silly and bring out our inner kids, which is so much fun. These are probably the episodes when I feel the most like we’re just a couple of 16-year-olds hanging out on the school bus or after school again.

I absolutely love to play games, board games, quizzes, garden games, you name it. As long as I can laugh and be silly, I am happy. It’s funny, because I think most of the people that know me would describe me as a fairly serious person. At least the people who knew me while I was growing up, but the well-hidden truth is, I’m still a kid who just wants to have as much fun as possible in my spare time. A couple of summers ago, I decided I wanted to set that kid free and my summer resolution was to learn to play and be silly on my own. In pursuit of that goal, I purchased some rollerskates with all the intent to learn, and while I have only used them a couple of times (admittedly, neither time was I hugely successful), I did succeed in letting myself play more, so I will count that as a win!

Regardless of whether you prefer to reflect on the year that’s past or set goals for the year to come, I really encourage you to embrace play. Breaking free of that “grown up mold” and letting yourself laugh until tears are rolling down your cheeks, allowing yourself to be silly or maybe risk embarrassing yourself to re-learn something you used to love (I know, I know - I need to get back on those rollerskates). It’s a wonderfully freeing feeling.

Perhaps you feel safer experimenting with being goofy with a friend? If that’s the case, then pull up a quiz, any quiz really, and see where it takes you!