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It’s been a weird year. I could call it a bad year because it didn’t go as planned, but it wasn’t bad, just really odd. I felt discombobulated a lot of the time, because I couldn’t understand what was going on and why things were happening the way they were happening. It was definitely a year of going with the flow and just dealing with what was in front of me.  Not a year of structured progression towards pre-defined goals.

As we say goodbye to 2024, in a way I'm glad to see it go. But I'm also aware that time passing means I will never be 47 again, and my son will never be 14 again, and a bunch of other things will never be the same again. This makes me sad, and makes me want to hold onto 2024 even if it wasn't as great as I hoped it would be.

But such is the nature of life, and the wheel of time keeps turning. The best I can do to make it go slower is be present with what is right now. And so I turn to one of my favorite end-of-year practices, making a list of everything that's significant to me as I look back on the last 12 months and sink into where I am today.

I'm sharing my list with you, as always.

Here is my 2024 in 40 bullet points:

You can see my 2024 SoulMap above. I have a whole course on making these and am running a supported round in January, so if you want to make a SoulMap with me, make sure you're signed up to my newsletter! 

6. The first brave thing I did: Performed Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys in the Town Hall Theatre here in Galway. This was part of a fantastic personal development program run by Caren Hession - Caren is a vocal coach whose work isn’t about perfect singing, but about helping you find your true voice and then using it. Getting up on that stage and singing Girl on Fire was the bravest thing I’ve done for a veeeeery long time - and I still watch the video whenever I need to be brave but am just not feeling it. You can watch it below if you like.

8. Did a lot of driving - something I’ve always been very anxious about, but hey, I was being brave this year! I started driving to a couple of new places and even did a longer highway trip when my husband couldn’t drive for a couple of months because of his back.

9. Ooh I also learned how to fill up my car with gas! This is such a small nothing thing to most people (I’m guessing) but has been a HUGE thing to me. I just couldn’t get myself to do it. I didn’t understand what needed to happen in what order. I didn’t like that I couldn’t know whether there would be space for me when I got there. Too many unknowns, which meant that my husband has been filling up my car’s tank for YEARS. Well, not anymore! I learned to do it when his back was out, and encouraged myself to keep going afterwards. Would it be silly for this to be my biggest win of the year lol?

10. I was officially diagnosed with autism (and adhd). That explains point 8, right? 😉 I’d suspected I was autistic for years and years, but only decided to get assessed this year. I thought it would feel great, but it didn’t. It turns out that suspecting isn’t at all the same as being told for sure, and making peace with this part of me has definitely been a challenge.

11. Why did I decide to go for an assessment? Because I had a very traumatic dental surgery, and felt lots of things that they told me were impossible to feel. This dental surgery was a key moment in my year, as it brought complications that I’m still dealing with. In a nutshell, a lot of pain.

12. But you know what, going to the dentist at all to get some outstanding issues sorted was part of my commitment to my soulmap word of the year. It was the brave thing to do, and I’m proud of myself for doing it.

13. Here’s another brave thing: I completed my tarot certification with my friend Sinead Fine - it required courage because I had to submit recorded readings. I’ve been doing readings for like 10 years but something about having someone critique what I was doing felt really scary 😂. But I did it, and I’m so happy I did. It taught me so much about myself and boosted my confidence, too.

14. One of the surprising consequences was that I realised how much I enjoy doing face-to-face readings, so I started offering Zoom sessions again. Definitely continuing these as people love them and they’re very fulfilling for me.

15. I also started doing occasional Tarot Clinics where you can come with a single question - make sure you’re on my mailing list to be notified when I do one again.

16. Aaaaand then based on how awesome the tarot clinics were I added a weekly opportunity to ask me anything to The Elevator. The VIP level that includes this will be open again in February and you can join the waitlist here.

17. I also introduced a DIY level to Elevator, where you get weekly messages from my spirit team Avalon plus access to all my classes at a nice price. See that here if you’re interested.

18. Since we’re now talking about work, here’s something important: I took most of the year off from business building and focused on my foundations: what I want to offer and why. I worked with the amazing Laura Robinson on this and would highly recommend her courses and services - I’m happy to say that although I started the year feeling completely lost, I’m ending it with full clarity on what I want my business to look like. It’s been rough going through the process but so worth it now that I’m on the other side.

19. I only created one new workshop this year but it's a good one! I should know because I just took it myself and got SO MUCH insight. It's called Dreams Before Goals. It takes you through a tarot-inspired process to reconnect with what you really want and what really matters to you. This is so that your goals can be soul-aligned and therefore both easier to achieve AND more enjoyable to journey towards.

20. My podcast was definitely on the back burner this year - I only managed 5 episodes. The first 2 were within the first month, and the last 3 were within the last month lol. I guess consistency wasn't my strong point this year!

21. I only read 20 books this year. I talk about my favorites in the latest episode of the SoulSmart Podcast here. I had a look on GoodReads and I only ready 20 last year too - is it time to stop aiming for a book a week? I don't think I can let that goal go just yet. Maybe 2025 will be a GREAT reading year.

22. I tried acupuncture! And love it! I was in absolute constant agony pain-wise and totally desperate when a friend suggested this as a possibility - I went in spite of all my issues with needles and it was a game-changer in terms of managing my pain, and ultimately made most of it go away. So happy I was brave enough (and desperate enough) to go!

23. The first part of the year was dominated by my son’s success in athletics competitions - he tried athletics on a whim and it turned out he was really good at it, winning medals in both regional and national competitions. I was the proudest mama ever.

24. Unfortunately, he got seriously injured in May and hasn’t been able to do anything since. He’s handled it incredibly well though, I am really in awe of how mature he’s been. I definitely didn’t handle it as well - I really didn’t want to add ‘watched my teen figure out crutches during exam week’ to this list.

27. Failed miserably at meal planning and healthy eating though - partly because I was in pain for half the year and couldn’t cope with anything else and partly because I still haven’t found a system that works for my brain and energy levels.

28. I had my first ever shamanic healing session. It was really interesting.

29. There was a lot of healing in my life this year, both physically and emotionally. One of the biggest chunks related to some childhood trauma that I won’t go into here, but want to mention in case you too have had to spend more time than you wanted on healing. I was so anxious to move forward and kept being pulled back to look at things I didn’t want to look at. Fingers crossed it’s all cleaned up now!

30. A good friend did a shamanic journey with me to find out about my spirit animal - it’s Bear. That explains my Care Bear collection then 😉

31. Musical theatre is an obsession of mine and I got to see 4 shows this year: Aladdin, Hamilton, Wicked and Heathers. All good in very different ways! I would have guessed that Hamilton would be my favorite, and it was definitely impressive, but Wicked was even better. 

32. I had ‘visit a new place in Ireland’ on my list for the year, and we got to go to county Sligo to stay with friends for a few days. This was while my teen was at a summer camp and was the first time in like 10 years that we went anywhere without him. It was great fun.

33. I decided to approach my YouTube channel more seriously and recorded one whole video lol. Well to be fair I recorded a second one yesterday, but it’ll only be published in the new year so doesn’t count for this list 😉 

34. Did absolutely nothing in terms of home renovation. I had so many plans but health was the priority for all 3 of us this year, and none of the house stuff happened.

36. I discovered an incredible healing modality that’s basically journalling (though on specific things in a specific way). If you’re interested in alternative healing methods, check out the The Cure For Chronic Pain Podcast with Nichole Sachs. She has a book coming out soon too, and judging by the content she shares on her podcast it'll be excellent.

37. Witten readings continued to be a big part of my work and I'm proud that with everything going on I still delivered close to 100 this year. I’m still offering 2025 Messages From Your Soul if you’re interested!

38. I hosted my very first Thanksgiving dinner and made my first ever sweet potato casserole. Everyone watched in horror (including me!) as I added maple syrup and sugar to the potatoes lol but everyone loved eating the final product. A success!

Wishing you all the very best for 2025 and beyond,