It's not what you take, it's what you leave
this post is less "book" and more "Rina's 2021 reflections"
There’s a quote from Jennifer Niven’s All The Bright Places I often think about: “The thing I realize is, that it’s not what you take, it’s what you leave”. Although it might be painful in the moment, sometimes it can be more courageous to let go of something rather than tightly holding on, in fear of the uncertainty of what might happen if you let go. As we enter the first few days of 2022, I’m beginning to see the cleared square footage of mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional real estate that was once occupied by boxes of memories, pain, hope, expectations and potential that I kept tucked away in my back pocket throughout the past two years.
Letting go is hard because it means letting go of control (and we all know how us Type A or semi-Type A individuals like certainty). By letting go, I’ve been able to see how last year set me up for what’s to come this year.
2021 was:
Driving cross country and living in LA for ~3 months
Rebranding and launching SHE + securing some financing
Growing a team, including finding a dream team member and advisor
The ending of a relationship that brought so much growth and forced me to look at my patterns
Becoming a masi (aunt) to my two adorable nephews + seeing my sisters become mommas + spending consistent quality time with my family
Moving into an East Village summer “founder house” with 4 strangers who turned into my close friends
Running my 2nd 500 mile American Indian Spiritual Marathon from SF to Nothern Cali
Moving back to Williamsburg into an apartment I love with two great humans and feeling like I live in a village with my closest friends ~10 mins away
Completing over 2 years of our women’s circle that has been one of the most amazing constants of my life
Figuring out that I would like to continue writing these blog posts vs diving deep into the editing / book publishing world
Aside from the highlights, 2021 was also:
Lots of “what am I doing with my life?” juxtaposed with a growing sense of ease in my life
Lots of late night, deep conversations with good friends
Lots of dancing + laughing + tears
Some ugly crying (lol)
Lots of self-doubt
An intense amount of late 20’s angst
Some revisiting thoughts like “when I die, will this still matter the most to me?”
A medium amount of “wow people believe in me enough to invest in my company?”
Some burn-out with many, many moments of “omg is this really the life I get to live?”
Some “I don’t feel like doing anything today - why don’t I feel motivated?”
A medium amount of self acceptance of how my brain functions (and has always functioned)
I know this post is more “Rina’s 2021 reflections” and less sharing about the book, but I couldn’t start 2022 without some nostalgia and reflection.
I hope the first 6 days of 2022 were all you wished for them to be (and if you’re like me and they weren’t, I’ll leave you with the wise words of Shawn Mendes “it’ll be okay…I will love you either way”)
:)
Love,
Rina