V.2023 year in review.

This year I bloomed. I’m writing this and I’m so pleased at how much of myself I discovered this year. I decentred men and found my centre. I started enjoying people- my friends, men, my loved ones. The version of myself that emerged this year is one I’ve never met before. I love her. I enjoyed her- if you met her, you would too. It’s as if the moment I turned 28, a premium, higher version of myself emerged and I’m now excited to be aging. I learnt to block out noise and care less about what people thought about me. I shed the weight of people pleasing. I found love and was brave enough to say no to it because it didn’t serve me. I’ve never felt as adult as I felt this year and it freed me up in ways that I didn’t know I had been wound tight.

I wrote and read in equal measure which meant at some point, either activity appeared to be ‘suffering’ but I think therein lies balance. The ability to commit to one activity at a given time and pay attention to it so the material of the output is quality, is one that can only be achieved through finding balance. And so I do not bemoan it. Next year, I intend to have a schedule for my creative hobbies. This year was for figuring things out, next year is for structure- this is what I’ve been telling myself and I will follow through.

My relationship with Abba got so much better too. I learnt how He speaks to me and learnt to really and truly wait on the Lord.

Content I consumed & enjoyed this year.

Newsletters. Books. Articles. Podcasts. Youtube videos. Instagram stories. These were my pockets of joy on the internet.

Isaac Saul’s tangle, Sahil Bloom’s curiosity chronicles, David Perell’s Friday finds, Write of Passage weekly and Aakash Gupta’s Product growth are newsletters that I absolutely enjoyed. I consumed these religiously. What’s interesting is these newsletters all cover a wide range of topics that are quite distinct from each other which I like because it’s indicative of how vast my interests are too. Aakash’s newsletter is tailored for product managers while Isaac talks about politics. Sahil & David are curious cats; while the latter shares a newsletter that compiles 5 interesting links he’s found on the internet about unconventional topics, the former explores random interesting topics in a way that’s easy to consume and retain.

ISWIS and Lenny’s podcast were my top podcasts for the year; although if I am being honest, it’s Jola and FK (hosts of ISWIS) that truly held me in a chokehold because I listened to these babes chat religiously every wednesday on a weekly basis.

I started reading again in Q4 and I was so happy! I had a long reading slump and I broke it with Ali Hazelwood’s book- Lessons in chemistry. For this reason, in addition to the fact that it was a good read, I’ll always rate that book 5 stars. Another thing I enjoyed reading was Zikoko’s Naira life. I am fascinated with the concept of money- making it, growing it, keeping it, managing it and I find that Naira life gives me all the tea on the facets of money and financial interaction that I’m curious about.

Speaking of money, I like money. I joke all the time that I’m a material girl. I’m madam soft life. Team comfort. Team ease. President of ‘I don’t like stress’ association. When Flavour in his song ‘baller’ said ‘how much is money’ it felt like a philosophical line to me, because really, how much is money. Anyway, my deep affinity for comfort makes me work hard and chase monetary opportunities just so I’m able to continue to afford the life I want.

I think that if Youtube released their own version of spotify wrapped, I would be equal parts aghast and faux surprised at the number of hours I spent on that app. I discovered new YouTubers like Maya Graves, Amy Okolie, Enny, Aalyiah’s face, all the while simultaneously staying faithful to my OG fav of all time Dimma Umeh. What I also enjoyed about watching these babes is how they have all influenced me to work hard and make more money because the version of soft life that I know now, has levels and levels to it. I’ve been positively influenced to create more and to take better care of my body- Dimma especially influenced this. This year, I paid more attention to my skin, my health, my diet, my reproductive health, my fitness, my looks and how I showed up in the world on a daily basis. I’ve just been more attuned to my body.

Salem, an Instagram content creator influenced me to make more videos of myself and memories and I’m now fully committed to doing this better in 2024. I like how that I can scroll through my phone and see, captured on screen, seasons that I’ve experienced in the past year. I’ve been happy and I’ve been sad. I didn’t cry sad tears this year which is the complete opposite of 2022 and I’m grateful for it. I almost fell in love and broke my own heart in the same breath. I had wins and I had losses and my photo gallery tells a complete story of these moments. It’s priceless and I intend to continue this habit into the new year.

2024

This week, God spoke to me that I needed to pray longer this year. I struggle with prayers; especially with long prayer stretches. I’ve just always thought that surely If I have faith bigger than a mustard seed combined with a deep knowledge of God through scriptures, then the length of my prayers shouldn’t matter, right? Apparently, wrong. So as I do with everything I intend to get better at, I will commit to researching how to pray. I intend to read prayer books and scriptures and sit at the feet of Abba and ask that He teaches me how to qavah in the place of prayer.

One of my friends turned 30 this year and I remember when I asked her how she felt about getting to the third floor, her response was- my twenties were the trenches and life has progressively gotten better with age so there’s more to look forward to ahead. After the incredible year I’ve had, I wholly share her sentiments. Life has significantly gotten much better with time. There’s so much more now- more money, better experiences, improved quality of life, more intentional friendships have been forged, deeper relationship with Abba. And so I look forward to the new year. Next year, I fully intend to embody my name, OgheneNyerovwo (God answers prayers).

Excitedly looking forward to how good it can get and I know I’ll be back here to testify that 2024 blew my mind.

Happy new year loves🫶🏾. Wishing you all a phenomenal year ahead.