Week of Reconnection | Extrary is here
How have you been? I hope the final days of 2024 have been kind to you. The fourth week of Extrary serves as a bridge between the old and the new year—I like to consider it a week of reconnection. After three weeks spent closing chapters and tidying up, it’s the perfect time to reflect and start sketching plans for the future.
Past
As you know, I’m a big fan of lists. Every year, I compile 100 things that made my year (check out my lists for 2022 and 2023). It’s a fun way to remember moments and events that brought me joy, comfort, or inspiration. Wholeheartedly, 2024 will go down as one of the most challenging years ever. Yet, I’m still looking forward to creating this year’s list. A little anxiously, for sure, but also with the hope of uncovering more positives than my brain could currently recall.
It might sound like I’m forcing optimism, which I’d rather avoid, but hear me out. Imagine a year as a jar. At the beginning of January, it’s empty. Each day fills it a little, sometimes with big stones—the standout events and milestones that immediately come to mind when you're asked, What happened that year? Other times, it’s pebbles. But most of all, the jar is filled with grains of sand: the tiny, often overlooked details of daily life that ultimately shape its quality the most.
By the end of a year, the jar is full—stones, pebbles, and grains of sand alike. While my brain tends to focus on the big stones, life is so much more than that. Hence the list covers 100 things that were important, not 10.
To write a truly comprehensive list, I revisit my wall calendar, read my journals, and scroll through photos. The process takes a few hours, but it always reminds me how many grains of sand there are to be grateful for.
Future
It’s no secret that my brain struggles to grasp the concept of time. Thinking about the future, imagining it, and planning for it doesn’t come naturally to me. That said, 2025 will bring at least one major change (no spoilers!), and I hope to be more present and mindful about time as it passes. Writing about Extrary each week has been a helpful exercise, grounding me and making me more conscious of the days slipping by.
I’m turning 36 soon, and I feel a growing ache for making the time I still have truly count. Do you know this feeling? It scares me more than it excites me but well, we are very mortal, aren't we?
Thank you for reading and for spending this Extrary with me. I hope my reflections offered a slightly different perspective on the most wonderful time of the year. Wishing you all the best for the new year. May the next 13 months bring you peace, joy, love, and wonderful moments with good people.
Take care!
Wiktoria