Word of the Year: Simplicity

I always react more cooly and nonchalantly to the various situations life throws my way in my imagination than I do in reality. My most recent lesson in this: aging.

As the years have gone by, I’ve had an increasingly difficult time identifying with my age. But this last year, various little creaks and pains have snuck into my body, alerting me that things are changing. It has felt almost like an injustice. I looked in the mirror and noticed that my face was starting to change—lines were deepening or appearing where they never were to begin with. It’s as if a slight “melting” effect has set in; it’s subtle still, but it’s there.

The truth is that I have quietly judged people for “getting work done” in the past—things like botox and fillers. I had hoped (expected?) that by the time I reached the point in life where wrinkles were a reality, I would also have achieved a point of peace, pleasure, and confidence in myself that allowed me to fully embrace who I was as I was. But, now, suddenly not only do I understand the urge to get these tweaks, but I’ve also wondered if I should invest in them myself.

Most concerning of all, though, I have noticed a heaviness about me, like I’m carrying around the years I’ve lived up to this point on my shoulders.

Let me be clear: I think that some of these feelings and thoughts I’m struggling with are related to aging. Confronting getting older—and, by extension, mortality—is a trip. I find it alarming to realize that no matter how I do the math, I’m almost certainly at least halfway through life. And, just as significantly, I’ve come to realize that I’m struggling with burnout, which makes everything seem far more intense than it likely would otherwise.

Once Christmas passed and I caught my breath and could relax a little bit, I stopped for long enough to ask myself why I was considering more extreme measures to feel better in my body as opposed to simpler solutions that require me to be accountable to making real changes: slowing down, making the time to take care of myself in simple ways (and, likely, feeling better mentally and spiritually in the process as well). Why am I feeling drawn to extreme rather than simple, quick fix rather than sustainable? I think some of this is personality-driven and, also, some of it is due to feeling generally overwhelmed with everything on my plate and failing to prioritize my own health and well-being in the process.

So, I kicked off 2024 without a big, overbearing goal that set me up to fail but, instead, with the intention of feeling better and healthier in (and about) my body, in my head and in my heart, and of paying it forward to my future self by simplifying. Simple has never been my style: I like to go big or go home—and, in some areas of my life, that has paid off. But when it comes to this—to making significant, lasting changes that impact my life for the better in the long term, it feels like (for me) simple is probably the only way forward from here.

And so this January, I’ve committed to two things that are as simple as it gets (more on the specifics of that soon!). It’s a small start, but I can already feel the difference. And that feels really good. It feels like a start.