As you grow older you begin to understand the value of living more for yourself and less for others; the ability to critically examine yourself comes as a by-product of taking time to understand that your life is very personal and when push comes to shove, you will be left alone at 3am with your thoughts and conscience.

This year, I took self-care to a maximum level, 2023 was my year of indulgence and I plan on continuing the habit. This was largely due to the mild mental downtime I had earlier in the year.I wouldn’t say I was depressed, but I was sad. It’s the type of period in your life where your brain desires to remember every single sad and annoying thing that has ever happened, it’s not a nice feeling to say the least. Having a lot of hobbies can seem like you have too many feet to stand on but being someone that gets bored easily when it comes to leisure activities, having lots of hobbies balances that out. I pulled out everything from my bag of leisure and indulged in everything I could. I read 17 books, enjoyed building blocks, had solo dates (Yes, I enjoy eating alone, don’t judge), enjoyed coloring books, little doodles, watched movies, anime, cycled and slept as much as I could.

With mental health all taken care of, Physicals were also important. I tried taking up exercise and became a flickering light, going on and off but at least I tried. To all those that tried to get me to drink more water, I have failed you because I think I got worse but 2024 might be my year so don’t give up on me yet 🥲. To my skincare girlies, I have met most of your expectations and as far as healthy eating habits are concerned, I’m sorry sugar is too sweet but I balance it with fruits and veggies so forgive me some vices because I kinda need it to be productive (Special thanks to Caprison).

Talking about work, I had the opportunity of improving much more than last year and I got to experience burnout for the first time in a long while; though look at me talking about it like some kind of achievement which technically, it can be because it you don’t experience pain how else would you learn from it. I had a moment this year where work felt too monotonous for me and everything thing was just pissing me off but I bounced back and that’s what’s important because no matter how it stresses me, I really can’t picture myself doing anything else which is a testament to picking what you love as career path, also getting better tools for your job really lift up your spirits. As to the question of how I got over my burnout and the mild mental downtime I mentioned previously, I would love to say I went to a professional like a true motivational speaker (which I am not) but frankly, I just went to a friend, which is therapy for poor people; I ended up venting, cried a bit and received some hugs (shout out to that friend, you know who you are and I love you).

Socially, I thrived in some aspects and failed in some. I made three totally new friends this year but only managed to keep one. I'll count it as a win since my track record is horrible. I think one thing I learnt about myself when it came to socializing is that I’m actually great at making friends, it’s keeping them that’s the problem (I’m going to need to work on that) though making new friends doesn’t really work out as much when you’re swimming in the same pool. Oh, I think I found myself in a confrontation which has made me skeptical as to whether we are still friends or not but time will tell I guess. Talking about pools and where I generally make friends, I went for a lot of community stuff this year, my november especially was packed with tech events and I enjoyed all of them. I regret missing out on the SCA Summit this year but that was poor planning on my part. 2024 will have me going out more because it was strangely not bad to travel to new places and breathe different air.

Ultimately, 2023 was a year of self discovery for me, I feel like I understand myself better now and the question, “Tell me a bit about yourself?” seems a lot less scary. I can tell you all my red flags now and let you decide if you are color blind.

And now for book lovers that read this and want to know all the books I read this year, here they are with ratings out of 5 stars

1. The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho - 3.5 stars (if you love philosophical books, 4 stars)
2. Don’t Answer When They Call Your Name - Ukamaka Olisakwe - 3 stars
3. A river called Time - Courttia Newland - 3 stars (but requires patience)
4. Vengeful - V. E. Schwab - 4 stars
5. Dreams and Assorted Nightmares - Abubakar Adam Ibrahim - 5 stars
6. Abandoned Breaths - Alfa - 4 stars (poetry)
7. Gallant - V. E Schwab - 4.5 stars
8. Encyclopedia of a Broken Heart - Jon Lupin - 4.5 stars (poetry)
9. The Near Witch - V. E Schwab - 2.5 stars
10. When We Were Fireflies - Abubakar Adan Ibrahim - 5 stars (deserves 100)
11. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - V. E Schwab - 5 stars (deserves 1000)
12. The Salt in His Kiss - Alfa - 3 stars (poetry)
13. Truth is a Flightless Bird - Akbar Hussain - 1 star (just no)
14. Nearly All The Men in Lagos Are Mad - Damilare Kuku - 4 stars
15. Who Drove Nearly All Lagos Men Mad? - Ugochukwu Ugonna - 3 stars
16. Season of Crimson Blossoms - Abubakar Adam Ibrahim - 4 stars (Could have been 4.5 but I didn’t like how it ended)
17. Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries - Heather Fawcett - 4 stars

There's no way to rate this post but contact me below if you wanna connect 😊