Reflecting on a Half-Decent Year

As the year comes to a close, I (like lots of people) find myself reflecting on what has been 2024.

If I’m being completely honest, it’s tempting for me to feel disheartened by the lack of concrete “achievements” I’ve made this year. This, however, is a very surface-level take on what has been in many ways a successful year for me. Here are some of my top achievements:

I am far more confident than I was twelve months ago. I have worked hard this year to heal my self-confidence after a very rocky 2023 which left me feeling small and generally pretty hopeless. I now have more faith in myself than ever.

I ran my first half-marathon! This is a huge deal for someone who used to have crippling race-related anxiety and have panic attacks doing fun runs. I love running, so I am very proud of this one.

I got a promotion at work for the first time ever! This mightn’t seem like a big deal to some people, since my day job (or night job, mostly) is in hospitality, but being promoted made me feel so reassured that I was doing well at my job.

I made some beautiful new friends! Growing up quiet and introverted has led to me worrying about my social skills a lot, but despite my awkwardness and my quirks, I have met some of the coolest people- and they like me!

I was a finalist in the first portrait prize I have ever entered! My painting ‘Dad and his Harmonica’ is currently hanging in Mudgee Arts Precinct. I am so proud of this. It still feels like a dream.

I got a new job! I can’t share too much about this one yet, but it is very exciting (trust me). All you should know for now is that it is a part of a big upcoming adventure and a new chapter of ByRoseParker…

So, my achievements aren’t all conventional, but neither is the weird little life I am leading, and that’s exactly the way I want it to be. Sure, it would’ve been nice to end the year rich and “successful” with a sweet partner and an Archibald Prize under the belt, but you can’t win ‘em all, can you?

I’ve had a year full of fun night shifts and terrible customers, career-highlights and job rejections, balcony painting and cockroach sightings, beers and green tea. Overall, it has been good. The wins have, by a very slight margin, exceeded the losses (not by number but by significance). I’m hopeful that next year will be even better.

With every year that ends, there is the possibility that it’ll be followed by a better one. Onwards and upwards.

xx Rose