2024, a reflection.

This year’s been… unexpected. Looking back at old words about years passed, I wonder if I still have it in me— the artfulness or the wherewithal to keep writing, even just for me. 2024 saw me move to the fifth city I’ve called home in my 20s; the tenth address. Another new zip code wasn’t exactly on my bingo card, but this home, lucky number 10, has somehow held all these proofs I’ve spent nearly a decade looking for.

I made the best version of ‘home’ I’ve ever had, filled each room with color and plants, and tiny trinkets. I logged 344 miles, running loops in parks and walking through the neighborhood to get tea and a croissant, or to drink wine with my friends. I recycled vacation destinations, and didn’t mind; it’s a sigh of relief really, to see new corners of old places. I started watching basketball in the heat of summer, and on some days, the act of cheering for something kept me afloat. I read 88 books, and felt the bittersweetness of a library card in a new county. In a sense, almost everything was new in that bittersweet way: jobs, friends, after-work haunts, running routes, drink orders. But in all of it, was the underscore that no matter where I live, I’m still me. At times it’s a comfort, other times a curse— but always always true.

A friend once told me, “if you can’t beat fear, do it scared,” and in 2024, I found the bravery to believe it. In the imminent uncertainty of 2025 (also the last year of my twenties,) I’m hoping for more of the same— more showing up in the face of anything, more heart wide open, more good anyway.

TOP THREES OF 2024

RECORDS (favorite track)

  1. Manning Fireworks - MJ Lenderman (She’s Leaving You)

  2. life til bones - Oso Oso (that’s what time does)

  3. Big Ideas - Remi Wolf (Soup)

SONGS

  1. Snake Plant (The Past is Still Alive) - Hurray for the Riff Raff

  2. Crimes of the Heart - Waxahatchee

  3. Pale Horse - Truman Sinclair

BOOKS

  1. LoFi - Liz Riggs

  2. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - V.E. Schwab

  3. On Writing - Stephen King

An Afterword: usually when it comes to my favorite music of the year, I have to dig through a treasure trove of releases I held tight to. This year though, I found myself buoyed by old-ish favorites. I can mostly attribute this to reading Lo Fi and mentally reliving my Nashville glory days… but there’s also a piece of me that’s trying to slow time a bit, to squeeze out all the love and chaos that was the soundtrack to my 20s as the world (mine and ours) keeps changing. Here’s to the songs that’ve been there: 

  • It’s Alright - October Tooth

  • This Time - Land of Talk

  • Rings - Pinegrove

  • DON’T TELL THE BOYS - Petey

  • Pt. 1 - Peach Tea

  • New York - St. Vincent

  • Guest in Your Life - Sinai Vessel

  • Winter Breaking - Saintseneca

  • Circles - Brother Moses

  • Love Like Before - Erin Rae

  • Keep Me in the Open - Gang of Youths