2024: Goals, Dreams, and Themes ✨

Out: anti-aging, complaining, hangovers. In: risk-taking, climbing, beans.

Welcome to So Relatable, a bi-weekly newsletter that helps creative folks improve their craft, achieve their goals, and eat better snacks. I’m glad you’re here! ✨

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Everyone is afraid to say it, but I’ll be brave:

2024 is going to be a good year.

This does not mean 2024 will be without its challenges, disappointments, tragedies, and heartache. It will certainly include ongoing wars and genocide. The climate crisis. Sickness and death and professional struggles and creative disappointments. A general election. Make no mistake: 2024 will try to knock us down, and we’d be a fool to imagine otherwise.

But we’d also be a fool to ignore all the good in store for us, the possibilities and opportunities and fun. For me, that means appreciating the things I have—my community, my resources, my well-being—and honoring their power to get me through the hard parts.

Because I’m both optimistic and ambitious, I have a list of lofty goals for the year. These aren’t resolutions, exactly. I’m not trying to quit a bad habit or overhaul my life. Instead, these are things I want to do—some hard, some fun, some weird—that will help me live a more creative and fulfilling life.

2024 will be a good year, because we’ll make it good. Let’s go.

Creative Goals

Last year, I learned that my artistic success (or lack thereof) doesn’t define me. This year, in that vein, I want to create things that interest and excite me, no matter the outcome. More short stories and essays, more newsletters, more reading instead of scrolling, more submissions, more embracing different ways to share my work.

• Finish my short story collection and submit it to contests

• Work on the first draft of a new novel, TBD

• Reach 2,500 newsletter subscribers (we just hit 2,000!)

• Complete two non-writing art or craft projects—get weird

Personal Goals

In 2024, I want to continue to be an active and intentional friend and partner. I want to send birthday cards and text messages, show up when needed without being asked, and get better at giving thoughtful gifts. In-person and online, I want to draw better boundaries, say no when I mean no, and reserve my time for people and experiences that expand my world.

• Institute a monthly date night—make it fun or fancy

• Host a party or dinner once per season (New Year’s Day, check!)

• Go on two actual vacations and truly unplug

• Help run a great campaign for Cassidy, future County Commissioner!

Financial Goals

This year, I want to be a positive leader at work and focus my extra energy on meaningful side projects. Financially, we want to max out our retirement accounts, focus on paying off Nathan’s student loans, and spend freely when it aligns with our priorities and goals. I want to believe in abundance, but always stay prepared.

• Continue to be a positive, proactive leader at work

• Land at least one *paying* client for the side project

• Focus on paying Nathan’s student loans and saving for retirement

• Write our wills and finally get this lingering goal off the list

Physical Goals

In 2024, my physical goals are my most ambitious. I want to spend a full year as a member of Port City Power Yoga, strength train regularly at the YMCA, and become a solid 5.9/V3 climber (to start!). Health is holistic, so I also want to consume mindfully, eating fewer dinners from the freezer aisle and drinking in moderation, as a treat. I want to celebrate growing older, and not waste my energy or money chasing youth or beauty.

• Practice at Port City Power Yoga twice a week whenever possible

• Become a better, stronger, smarter climber and slowly increase my grades

• Embrace the Year of Beans (AKA, eat less processed vegetarian protein)

• Drink in moderation—no hangovers!

2024, y’all. We made it! Now let’s make the most of it. 🫘

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Snack Break

As you read this (assuming you read it immediately upon receipt) I'm wrapping up a quick trip to Long Island for a belated Christmas visit, after our actual Christmas was cancelled due to Covid. Unfortunately, sickness reared it's head again but we salvaged what we could. The best part was a visit with my 94-year-old grandmother, who drove us to a classic Long Island diner for lunch, gossiped viscously about our entire extended family, and forcefed me a dozen butter cookies back at her apartment. A legend! 🍪

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Relatable Recommendations

• Reading: I'm on a short story kick due to creative goal #1. In the last two weeks I read both Liberation Day by George Saunders and White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link. Loved them both.

• Watching: Eagerly waiting for each new episode of Fargo to drop. The new season is exquisite!

• Eating: I've been bookmarking so many good bean recipes—feel free to send me your faves! In the meantime: real NY pizza, a Carvel ice-cream cake for my sister's birthday, and eggplant parm for our belated Christmas dinner.

• Feeling: Deeply disappointed about missing some key family members this holiday season. Get your boosters, drink your Vitamin C, and stay healthy!

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Coffee Club Contributions

Thank you to Caitlin K., Kayce H., and Kathryn C. for helping this newsletter kick off 2024 feeling grateful and supported!

Want to treat me to a  ☕️ and support So Relatable? 💛 💃 🙌
Venmo: @Christine-Hennessey or PayPal Me.

Can’t afford a contribution? You can also click the ♡ below, forward this to a friend, or share the link on social media. Every little bit helps!

👋 About Me: I’m Chrissy Hennessey, an enthusiastic snacker and native New Yorker living in coastal North Carolina, where I stayed after earning my MFA in 2014. My writing has appeared in a decent number of journals, I’ve received fellowships to some fancy residencies, and I’ve written three novels, all currently unpublished. This newsletter is a passion project I started in 2019 as a way to connect with readers and writers, share my creative journey, and build a community. Thank you for being here!