For me, 2024 is ending early.
In fact, as of this weekend, I’m calling it. Cut! That’s a wrap, folks.
For the first time ever, I’m off to somewhere hot and far away come Christmas, and I’m not coming back until at least a couple of folk have broken their New Year’s resolutions.
And by the time you read this, my Out Of Office will be on (yes, I’m very smug) and my brain will be well and truly switched off.
But before I power down for the festivities, I thought I’d get a wee bit reflective, a touch sentimental. Go on, indulge me – it’s Christmas.
My ‘list of lessons’ is a tradition that I do every year, and naturally, every year the list grows longer.
Of course, this has nothing to do with the increasing nominal value of the years and everything to do with my ever-growing wisdom.
So here you have it, in no particular order: 24 things I learned in 2024 as a 29-year-old woman making a living as a writer in Dundee.
24 things I learned in 2024
- If you can’t blow dry your hair with a brush (hello fellow victims of the Sabrina Carpenter bangs), you are not inept at womanhood. You just need a less powerful hairdryer.
2. You don’t get through life without getting it wrong sometimes, so you’d better get good at making it right with the people around you.
3. Put a wash on. Just do it. I guarantee you, some laundry needs doing.
4. Being ‘boring’ is not the same thing as being bored.
5. Doing hobbies after work is really hard, and always worth it. Go to craft night, or running club, or whatever you don’t really feel like going to at 7pm.
6. Hi. Everyone is busy. Lose the fluff. Email like a man.
7. Instant messaging doesn’t mean 24/7 access to people. Ignore, be ignored. Make a cuppa.
8. Make your prettiest mug your work mug.
9. If you have control issues and want to become zen by sheer force of will, get a cat.
10. You have to say what it is you want, or you won’t get it.
11. Guilt and shame are not the same. The first is a signal to do something differently; the latter is no use to anyone, and very self-indulgent.
12. Good actors are worth watching, even in bad films. The inverse is not true.
13. You don’t have to always relate to your friends in order to keep loving them just as much as you always did.
14. Letting people compliment you is gracious. Denying what they say out of discomfort disguised as modesty is actually quite rude.
15. Faith isn’t always religious; religion isn’t always about faith.
16. You don’t need a new water bottle, you have one at home.
17. When paddleboarding on an icy loch, WEAR WATERPROOF SHOES.
18. If you’re buying souvenirs, make them useful items: coasters, glasses cases, playing cards. Sprinkle special memories into the everyday.
19. You’ll never regret leaving the function early. No one ever lost sleep over the things they didn’t divulge over 2am tequilas.
20. Lunch is hands down the best meal of the day. Stop skipping it. Stop saving all your best food for your evening meals. Make it the night before and have it for lunch instead.
21. There is no better feeling than capturing someone accurately on the page, and having them recognise themselves there. Nothing compares to it.
22. It is physically impossible to be apathetic or depressed while listening to Chappell Roan.
23. Good journalism, whatever that means to you, is worth paying for. The world is scary and uncertain. Decide which voices you trust and then support them financially if you can, because it’s important.
24. Get to know the people who inspire you, while they’re around. Even if you think they’re too busy, or you’re too shy. It’s a travesty, learning a friend’s favourite band at their funeral.
Merry Christmas! See you next year.
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