SOLSC '23 Day 5: A little bit wiser...?

Another trip around the sun, another year of learning and growing.  This is the list I've come up with as I sit and ponder over this past year.

• Time in nature is essential for my well-being.  I need quiet time in a forest, by a seaside, even just driving backroads through the countryside with the sunroof open and windows cracked.
• These last few years have really knocked the playfulness out of me.  I will be actively searching for it this coming year.  I suspect creative pursuits and spending more time outdoors will be part of the antidote.
• The older I get, the better I become at listening, especially to the message under the words...but I still need to grow in that skill.
• It's okay to set boundaries and not listen sometimes, too. 
• "Everything is consequences."  A quote from The Girl Who Drank the Moon that so very aptly fits this time in my life.  Where I am at right now is a consequence of everything that has gone on before, most of it my responsibility.
• It's my responsibility to change things for better consequences in my future.
• It's important to pause and celebrate and breathe.  
• Dopamine dressing--so that's the name for what I've been doing all these years?  (And the reason for the piles of clothes I need to declutter, too...)
• Purple hair may just be my look for life.
• You are never too old for stickers and glitter nail polish.
• I need to take advantage of this thing called "summer break", and really take a break this summer.  Luckily, I have friends who are holding me accountable for this.
• Great colleagues help many any job less stressful.
• Keeping a gratitude journal is as essential to my well-being as water and sunlight.

Fifty-seven years of learning, with hopefully a few more decades ahead to keep at it!