A Look Back

standout moments of 2023

Photo by Content Pixie on Unsplash

In my district, today was the first day back to school after winter break, so here I sit at my desk in my office at the back of my quiet house writing my first post of the new year…which is actually about the old year.

For the majority of my writing colleagues across the internet, last week was the time to write year-end reviews, publish favorite 2023 book lists, or if you’re my friend Ruth, round up your Top 5 Most Embarrassing Things of the year. But for me, rather than the typical wrap-up week between Christmas and New Year’s, it’s one of increasing isolation and sadness leading up to a really tough anniversary, so I usually set aside yearly introspection until the 31st passes. It’s just better that way.

But yes, that DOES mean my 2023 wrap-up is a week behind everyone else…but oh well. Eventually I’ll catch up :)

The last two years I’ve used journal prompts found on Laura.Tremaine’s Instagram platform. Coming off an emotionally draining week, I’ve liked the ease of having prompts ready-made for me. I can be as brief or in-depth as I want. Some prompts take more thought than others. This year I spent the most time on the question: “What are the standout moments of 2023?” Overall, 2023 wasn’t a bad year, especially in comparison to others in the last decade, but scrolling through my photos of the last year helped me remember specific moments that made up my year…that’s why it took so much time. But I don’t regret it, as I came away smiling.

Here are a few 2023 standout snapshots of five specific areas of my life:

Parenting: This is a role I’ve always been excited to fill and 2023 was no exception. My kids turned 15, 13, and 11 and are now all at the same school building each day. Some favorite parenting events were being a cheer mom, celebrating Art Show success, and listening to musical endeavors including a first piano recital, a first middle school vocal solo, a first trip to HS regional and state music contest (vocal), Seussical the Musical (purple bird girl was stellar), and a lovely Christmas concert that involved all three kids in respective bands and choirs. I also had the privilege of coaching both my daughters in track and field…and they were always willing to take a photo with me at the meets.

Renovating: I GOT A NEW HOME OFFICE! We swapped several rooms — laundry moved to the basement storage room, daughter moved to the old laundry room in the basement, son moved to daughter’s old room, and I moved into my son’s old room for the altogether wonderful new office space.

Writing: Inspired by the first time my daughter did a “Liberty” cheer stunt in front of a crowd, I wrote an inquiry piece for Fathom Magazine and it got published in March as Sustaining Grace, How Sweet the Sound. Also a huge stand-out moment was having two of my Substack pieces shared by Canadian pastor/speaker/author, Tim Challies (Life After Death and I’m Adopted)! And all this in addition to moving to Substack, of course.

Professionally: I started working part-time at the Hillsboro Public Library! It’s a wonderful fit for me and I get to do cool things like be around books, create displays, and wear t-shirts advocating for reading books. The schedule also still leaves me time to write, which is something I’ve been looking for for several years.

Personally: I turned 40 in March and celebrated with a Birthday Book Bash. To date, it’s one of my favorite ways I’ve ever marked a birthday. I made a book registry on Amazon, Brad and the kids distributed some invitations, and there was a stretch of days when I got a lot of really fun mail. The Post Office probably loved it too.

What were YOUR standout moments of 2023?

Looking ahead to 2024, you can expect regular posts on this page including long-form articles, occasional poetry, and a rotation of shorter pieces including It Just Makes Sense and Information Loading. You can explore the rest of my public 2023 musings on Substack, Facebook, Instagram (malindadjust), and X[formerly known as Twitter]

Thank you so much for your support in 2023!