A reflection on my year of joy

And why I need time away

Hello, I’m Molly, a full time creator based in the Scottish Highlands. Subscribers can enjoy weekly posts around the themes of slow living, thriving in a creative career, books & nature. Members get access to ALL my content, including video tea times, slow scrolls of all my favourites and seasonal book reviews.

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I’ve always been someone who loves a fresh start. Monday mornings, new school terms and, best of all, the arrival of the 1st of January, signalling a brand new year.

As an avid planner, by the time January comes around, I generally have all my ducks in a row and know exactly how I would like the year to play out.

Over the years, this planning has shifted from setting numerous ambitious (read - ‘unrealistic’) goals on what I want to achieve to coming up with intentions on how I want to live.

Setting a word for the year is a relatively new practise I’ve started. Although I’ll admit to being sceptical about such concepts as ‘manifestation’, I’m also someone who believes in the power of words, so thought this would be an interesting experiment.

As we are nearing the end of the year, I can clearly see that 2024 has been radically influenced by this one little word. Joy.

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P.S., My updated 2025 Slow Living Notion Planner is now available on my Etsy store (HERE). The perfect template for Notion newbies and for those seeking a slower pace of life…

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Finding my own kind of joy

The first step to living my year of joy was to truly understand what makes me happy.

I have a habit of putting myself in boxes with strict labels, which means I can feel trapped into one kind of person that can only achieve happiness in strictly defined scenarios.

I’m slowly learning to shirk off these labels and be open to all different kinds of joy. Not only that, I’m better at embracing the imperfect moments of pleasure found in the everyday and no longer live for an uncertain future.

These shifts in mindset have been monumental in allowing me to welcome joy with open arms.

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Highlights from my year of joy

1. Starting my van life journey

I’ve been craving my own van for what feels like forever, but have always held myself back. Worrying about whether I could afford it or have the time or courage to go on solo adventures in the wild.

The word joy gave me the validation I needed to trust my gut and push through these fears. As a result, I’ve treasured the time I’ve spent in my van this year and cannot wait to continue living my best nomad life in 2025.

You can watch my van vlog playlist HERE.

2. Embracing my inner social butterfly

Over the years, self-proclaimed labels such as ‘introvert’ and ‘highly sensitive person’ have held me back from socialising.

This year, it was time to reassess. Yes, I will always be someone who finds certain social interactions draining. But is there some joy to be found that I had stubbornly overlooked.

As I wrote in this post earlier in the year, an essential component of my year of joy has been cherishing the time I’ve spent with friends. I feel a deeper bond with my loved ones and recognise that this feeling of connection does require some nurturing, but remains vital to my overall happiness.

3. Finding time for hobbies

This has been my first full year of being self-employed, which has meant that I’ve had to relearn how to set my own work/life balance and a crucial part of this has been nurturing my hobbies.

This year, I started my own nature diary and creative journaling practise. I’ve spent countless hours cooking and baking in my tiny home kitchen. I expanded my gardening skills. I’ve adored moving my body, whether this be Pilates, yoga or long hikes out in nature. I’ve had my best reading year ever, by removing any preconceived ideas of what I should read and purely focused on what I enjoy.

My life feels immeasurably richer for it.

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So, what’s next?

Well, firstly, I have decided to take some time off. I’m going to expand my usual 2-week hiatus over Christmas and have the majority of December away from posting content.

This will be the last Monday post from me this year (my members can still expect my slow scroll and my next seasonal book review video) and my last YouTube vlog will go live on the 1st of December.

I won’t lie that this feels like a scary decision. But it also feels necessary. As usual, I’m taking my cue from nature and, as the weather starts to cool, I feel myself leaning into a slower pace. This time away will allow me to replenish my energy, creativity and spend time reflecting on how I would like to live in 2025.

I have some very exciting plans for next year, which I will share in due course, but for now I’d like to wish you all a wonderful December and I will be popping back into your inbox very soon.

All my love,

Molly xx