It’s time for my annual New Year’s post here where I talk about how this year will be the one where I post at least once a month, I mean it.
All jokes aside, I want to take the time to reflect on my past year and my hopes for this one. 2023 was a decent year for me. On the surface I don’t think there’s anything that stands out a ton – no big purchases or life changes, but it had super high moments (thank you BTS!), and lots of small, quieter things to be grateful for and enjoy.
I can’t believe I turned 30 only a year ago. I feel like I’ve been officially 30 for at least 3 years now. Although truth be told, I still feel like I’m 27-28 a lot of the time. But I’m trying to change my mentality and own that I’m in my 30s. I’ll be 31 in just a couple of weeks! I loved my birthday last year, I kept it relatively small and quiet with a BTS themed tea party – mixing 2 things I love so much. As I’ve gotten older I appreciate the people who can spend time with me on my birthday so much more. I used to be very insecure about my relationships (still working through that issue tbh) with people, always trying to gauge if we were on the same page. Now, taking into account of how busy adult life can be, balancing work, family, finances, and personal time, I’m so grateful for the friends and family who take the time to celebrate with me and make me feel valued (again, that insecurity slipping in).
I had the pleasure of going to several concerts in 2023, probably more than I’ve gone to in the last 5 or so years. I don’t think I will ever reach the number of concerts per year attended of my late teens/early 20s ever again (unless I’m the one on tour..), but I was reminded several times how much I still love concerts and live music. I’ve always loved music with every ounce of my soul, but I felt that passion surge again, solidifying how important music is to my core, and nudging me to pursue some musical hobbies and passion projects going forward.
Concerts I went to in 2023:
March: Epik High in Boston, MA
April: Suga/Agust D x 2 Elmont, NY
May: Suga/Agust D x 2 in Oakland, CA
Mamamoo in Chicago, IL
June: The Cure in Boston, MA
July: Jung Kook at GMA in NYC
Balance and Composure in Queens, NY
September: Jung Kook at Global Citizen Festival in NYC
November: Jung Kook in Times Square, NYC
December: The Maine in Boston, MA
Now that I’ve written it out, I technically went to 12 concerts this year, averaging 1 a month, which is more than I initially thought. But I can’t talk about these concerts without talking about travel and friendships – another huge highlight of 2023. Maybe it’s not quite as extensive or exciting as my 2022 travel and friendships in Korea, but I spent time with lots of new people. I made new ARMY friends in New York, and Oakland during the Suga and JK events who I’ve kept in regular contact with over Twitter (I have not adopted the “X” name change, and do not plan on to) and IG messages. Me and Hyesoo finally hung out IRL, post Korea because of the Suga concerts in NY and I even visited her in PA in August. After the Suga concerts in Oakland I went to LA for a couple of days where I met up with Sam, who I became friends with through BTS/ARMY, and Kiara, who I met in Korea. I also spent a little bit of time with Dorothy and Rosa, who I also met in Korea (and they even let me crash on their couch for one of the JK events!). I visited and stayed with my friend Victoria from grad school in Chicago when I went to see Mamamoo. There I ran into Allie, who I met at the Suga show in NY, Timberly, who I met at the Mamamoo show in Korea, and I had the pleasure of becoming friends with Asia and Michelle at this show.
When I actually write stuff out, it forces me to think and reflect, which I know was the purpose of this post, but I’m still shocked at all of this? I have definitely felt an increase of meeting people and making new friends in the last couple of years, but I’m also still in awe of myself because it can be really difficult to make friends as an adult, but I’m doing it??
2023 also saw few firsts from me – I was a vendor at an ARMY event (quietly opening an Etsy shop/small business is part of the plan this year), and I took dance classes where I met made more new friends, and performed the RUN BTS choreography in front of an audience. I haven’t done any kind of performance like that probably since being a part of the cheerleading team during my freshman year of college. But it definitely made me want to dance more.
I also started taking Korean classes again after taking a couple of semesters off after returning from Korea, and am starting 2024 as in intermediate learner! I’m excited to take my Korean learning more seriously by practicing and reviewing more (and asking Hyesoo for help hehe). I also made a new friend via class, and I’m hoping to meet her IRL in a couple of weeks.
Out of the blue I decided to attempt NaNoWriMo this year. I hadn’t logged into my account since the first year I attempted the challenge, which was in 2008 when I was 15. But I got a surge of inspiration to try again after 15 years and went for it. Although I didn’t finish according to the word count, I wrote a crap ton more than I have in the last 5 years and it definitely reminded me how rusty I am and how hard it can be, but also how much I enjoy writing.
This was my first full calendar year working as a freelancer, and I’m pleasantly surprised that it worked out. I had doubts every single day whether or not I’d be able to financially manage, yet somehow all the bills got paid (most of them at their minimum payments, but still paid nonetheless!). I was still able to fund trips and concert tickets (those Suga VIP floor tix were not cheap!), and I also had the random days off in the middle of the week that worked out perfectly for last minute events like JK at GMA and in Times Square.
The babies in the family grew by 3 this year, and they are all so precious. I love watching these kids grow and become little humans with thoughts and feelings and their own personalities. I’m grateful to be a part of their lives. I’m grateful for having my cousin group be so solid. I’m grateful for my hometown friends and the times we’ve gotten together for drinks or coffee.
Overall, I think 2023 was a step in the right direction. I did a little bit of a lot which has inspired me to take bigger steps in 2024. I want to do more. I want to write more, dance more, practice Korean (and maybe start learning Japanese), learn guitar or piano. I want to embrace the simple pleasures of life more like a freshly brewed latte or the snow falling. I want to push myself out of my comfort zone more and put myself out there. I want to strengthen the relationships I have and make new ones. I want to make more content and make it quality. I want to move – out of state, or even out of country.
I’m living in my slice of life anime as the best girl / main girl / magical girl, and I’m so excited for this next chapter of it.
It’s so easy to write off a year because all the wonderful things that happened did so slowly, or were sandwiched in between lots of average and forgettable days. But I’m glad I took the time to write this out and remember so many of the great things about 2023.
Here’s to hoping this feeling will push me to write more blog posts here in 2024. Fingers crossed.