On January 1st of 2024, I found myself making a vision board for the year.
I had done the same last year and looking back and seeing all that I had accomplished and followed through with gave me closure to the depressive episode I experienced in all 12 months of 2022. I had learned to ask for help, I learned to speak up, and place fresh soil under my feet to ascend me from the hole I had dug for myself. The hole a part of me planned to die in turned into a place for me to plant my feet and give myself flowers.
My flowers have blossomed for this new year… and vision board… my goals are going to help me water them.
For the first time in 10 years, I felt connected to a Bible verse. God and I’s letters have gotten mixed up in the mail and I eventually stopped writing him. I hated what he had put me through and the way he watched me suffer for years, but I realized… in moments when I sat on the floor of my bathroom, unable to breath, sleeves salty from crying into them, I spoke to him. I wanted someone to listen and he did, and now I know it’s time to break my “no- contact”. The night of January 8th I wrote to him for the first time. I apologized for my absence, explaining why I had been away for so long, and I felt… forgiven. In a moment where I expected ridicule and mercilessness, I was forgiven before my ink dried. I want to forgive myself in this way, learn to forgive others the same. I want to heal this year. This is the focus of my vision board. I want to express the kind of love I used to when I was growing up, the unknowing, the unconditional, the innocent. My goal is closing chapters from my childhood that felt unfinished. Stories I cannot rewrite for an outcome that better suits who I am today, but instead MAKE me who I am.
So, in 2024 I ask God to grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

imagine that you are a plant,
tree, shrub, flower,
whatever plant you desire to be,
you are that plant.

your feet are roots,
grounded deep within the earth,
you become one with nature,
peacefully and gracefully growing.

the sun rises casting a warm glow upon you,
wind gently blows through your petals or leaves,
bees and butterflies settle onto you,
such small majestic beings.

you stay grounded,
in awe of the beauty found within nature,
in awe of how the sunshine, grassy plains, mountains, and bodies of water,
are the most magical of all.

you are present in the moment,
accepting that, you are in fact- a force of nature,
filled with beauty and uniqueness,
character found in each thorn, leaf, petal, or branch.

storms come through from time to time,
however; your roots are planted deeply into earth’s crust,
thunder and lightning strike and rumble,
just as the sun shall rise once more.

i ask of you, to imagine yourself as a plant,
to stay grounded, present, and most of all,
embrace the fact that – you are a force of nature,
even on the darkest, coldest, nights.

i, myself, will do the same.

i will grow in the sunshine,
keep grounded during storms,
be present in the moment,
as each day passes on.

For years, I have chosen everyone else first
I allowed myself to not even be on my own list of priorities
I did not think I deserved to recognize on my own time with deserving the merits of love for myself
I had everyone categorized in my mind as more important than me
I was determined to not be a nuisance or cause anyone discomfort

2020 changed me as it did others

2020 made me aware of the importance of self stillness
2021 taught me that I do not need to live up to others timelines, my own is important
2022 woke up my internal clock of no longer delaying my own growth
2023 broke me of any self doubt that was leftover of 2022 and set my path on fire
2024 is the year I choose Me

I choose to make myself a top priority on my own list
I choose to make sure I know my worth and my value even when others question me
I choose to be uncomfortable with not taking care of everyone else, first
I choose making sure I know I am allowed to love myself honestly and fully
I choose living up to my own expectations and I am looking forward to how this adventure unwinds over this year

2024 is the year I choose me

In the Year 2024 Poem
By Cyantha Key

My goals in the Year 2024,
In the year 2024, the word that comes to mind, is simply more.
I want to expand my creativity and explore the depths of my creative capacity.
I want to write the sonnets and poems etched in my heart.
I want to tell tales from my neighborhood in short stories.
I want to step out of the shadows of doubt and into the light of hopes and dreams.
I want to make my mark on the world with my own voice and flair.
I want to be a painter and a poet,
A writer and a thinker,
I want to be a visionary and artist,
An innovator and an dreamer,
In this year, I want to overcome trial and tribulations.
I want the world to know I have a rich imagination.
I want to bring joy and excitement to the minds of the gallery viewers.
I want to motivate the minds of spectator, and plant joy in their hearts.
I want to have the courage to say I was brave and bold.
I won’t keep my genius stored in my heart,
At the end of this year,
I want the message to be clear,
In 2024,
I will be more,
More braver,
More stronger,
More creative,
More hopeful,
More inspiring,
More bolder,
This year will be a year of more.

The sound of a thousand semi automatic guns rang in the distant
Echoing a turbulent welcome for a new years celebration once the clock struck 12
With my body aching, Battling a cold with massive migraines marked the end to this year of 7.
What a powerful flush of an energetic cleanse to my DNA as I transcend
“I smiled with the knowing that This year means the scales are about to be balanced in my life once again” .
In my mind I Watched the last piece of sand fell through the hour glass modeling the figure 8… a year of infinite possibilities, perhaps an overflow of delayed blessings ?
As I sit now, writing at my desk draped in a cloak of protection. The Arch angels stand near as I pray for divine intervention for all the years I’ve cried JUSTICE
Staring into the image of the jaguars eyes I know I’m next in line for a miracle.
Goals for a peaceful life, a safe home somewhere near the mountains.
Eager to be closer to God as I embark on this destined journey with my baby fish tinkering at my side.
“Goals to find my tribe, and model world peace
“ heal with the earth,”
What a blessing to envision a silent escape from a ghost town, ridden in 7 deadly sins .
A land of body bags covered in blood shed.
I got my sights set forward, So now I can sow seeds on a land upon inheritance where the ancestors once weep.

“ The mountainous red turf in a vortex of manna.”

I Amplify my holy Trinity of self as I denounce the spirit of fear , for it was written as described from the words above.
when I foretold the looming truth of unjust crimes covered up by crooked cops and greedy ken who would rather see me held in asylum counting down the days waiting for me to die!
Too much truth? I think not.
So many goals but that also includes to let my voice shake as I speak from the heart and share hidden prophecy
Break down the walls, let the birds sing . It’s time for my fiery soul to be ‘Unsealed’.
I want to paint with sand and quantify in knowledge. Sit with shamans and monks on grassy lands taking notes as we read books.
There has been too many years gone by where I lived in hyper vigilance , writing down dreams waiting for the day to express myself a burning desire to live free.
I woke up this morning, nasal path ways wide open …noticing I could breathe.
“The storm is over this year it’s all about giving life to the beautiful visions I’ve seen.”
These are my goals for the new years closing out the year 2023

Ye Welcome The Year 2024, Time to let freedom Ring.

When I imagine you working towards your goals this new year, I see you vividly thriving in competence, pursuit of financial stability and, creating a world for yourself that you have only wildly dreamed of. Thriving in competence will take great focus and determination while learning to become the writer within you. Pursuit of financial stability will take grout to take yourself higher than the Sommelier you deeply dream of letting go. I promise you, my love, there is a second career waiting for you outside the walls of a restaurant and inside your magnificent, ingenious mind. Building on a world for yourself that you have always wildly dreamed of will create a path of confidence and deep understanding of the woman you are yearning to become.

The journey you seek is lit with blazing stars of ideas and deep rooted desires painted with yellow bricks made of love; you must continue to love yourself through every cutting challenge and every heart wrenching bad day. As much as it feels like there is no end to start your new beginning, these challenges will only lead you to the greater purpose that you dream of achieving. You will support your every wish with every story you choose to tell, every word you put on paper, and every idea you design from your imagination.

You will travel through foreign countries, speak romance languages with locals, experience cultures outside of your own, and my love, you will produce a life full of magical moments with the man you never knew could love you so deeply. Everything you wildly dream of is waiting to come together in every wild dream you continue to pursue. If you continue to follow the love you have for yourself, the lights will become easier to see and all of your wildest dreams may come true.

I love you, always.

If what they say is true
and you can really be anything
I hope you’ll be your own stars and lavender skies
and every phase of every moon

Be your sun that meets the day
Be your air, breath, and fire
Be your lungs that haven’t quit

Be the postcard in the mail
on the way to greet old friends
Be your neighbor bringing laughter
and togetherness in cups of tea
Be paintings, puzzles and dreams still left to finish
Be the ladybugs gathered in three

Be every ocean too big to photograph
Be the snapshot from outer space
Be the embers in the backyard woodpile burning
and your midweek coffee date

Be the fireworks and the celebration
Be the rain jumping off concrete
Be the flowers you plant, and more importantly,
Be the roots that no one else sees

Be the first time listening to the song you’ve been needing
Be the dance class you’re scared to take
Be your stumbling and uncertainty
Be every season in its wake

Be the time capsule revisiting every hometown place
you thought surely you outgrew
Be elbows deep in a sink full of dishes
Be the vinyl crackling from the next room

Be open windows and fresh clean sheets
Be the moment to gather your thoughts
Be your voice of grace that says
You are more than “what you ought”

Be summer heat’s rest stop for gasoline
Be afternoon’s happily snoring dogs
Be the birdhouse in the yard
and the flock of magpies in their waltz

Because if what they say is true
and our lives are up to us
I’d like to think we can be brave enough
to be everything that’s been given to us

2024: hours to go–
Til the New Year’s Party’s over and
Aileen leans in to show me a meme, a little dated, about being sedated by the Ramones:
Twenty, twenty-four hours to go.

That’s how this leap year lept in: on word play, a guffaw, and a grin. And: THAT’S IT!
That’s my goal for 2024. That’s all. That’s it:

To play with words and laugh along to poetry and song,
joke and jape all night long–right or wrong–
With a throng of my favorite people to ring it in with–
Including and increasingly especially always–ME.

Nothing else needs doing or achieving except being. Accept BEING.
It is my goal that that finally be enough for me.

For, I have spent all the years before 2024–up to and including 2023–
making lists of buckets and wishes of all the things
I need to do or be.

So, new year, new list usually–but NO!–not this!
This time I want only one–okay, maybe a few–things:

To curate and appreciate all that did accumulate before 2024
to make it what it is already about to be.

NO YEAR IS NEW. YET, EVERY YEAR, IT’S TRUE–
We all set out to improve ourselves in the DEAD OF WINTER

When all the smart mammals are out there staying in:
hibernating
gestating
incubating
investing in their future
by staying asleep–perchance to dream

Of what’s soon coming: life and love in store. But they don’t start acting on those mores until the actual (fucking) Spring.

So, my only goal for now is to sit back and marvel how I even got here to THIS place and time of being.

It’s the start of 2024, and my one and only chore is to see what happens next without expecting a single thing…

Except maybe some more laughs and a few hours left to pass…

Til 2025 has me sedately asking myself the exact same thing.

(Who knows by then what the answer will be?)

One day
I want the glass bottle once thrown into the ocean with a message inside
To Float back to the shores it was flung from and discovered that the wreckage is no longer
That the parts have been salvaged and repurposed
that there were a pair of footprints facing north
that made it far pass the point of being washed back into the sea
Towards something beyond the wilderness
And the bottle rests between the cusps of the waves never being disturbed

There’s something special in me, but the sheets around me invite me to lie still.
There’s something special in me, but the voice of the newest drama calls
out my name.
There’s something special in me, but the hours of scrolling make it easier to stay put, liking, commenting, and laughing my precious time away.

As 2024 dawns, I aim to awaken the thing that is special in me.
But not by any unimaginable might nor by any unprecedented event.
The path to results is simpler than I realize. More obtainable than the maze my mind has painted, full of winding paths, convoluted plans, and unforgiving puzzles.

The steps are as follows:
Record the vlog.
Write the story.
Create the choreography.
Master the language.
Learn the instrument.
Love and be loved.

This is the moment I start to create the things I have always wanted to make,
I start to enjoy the things that make my creative spirit sing,
I start to find my rhythm.
I start to find my tempo.

Do not delay, I say. The thing that is special in me grows restless.
And I cannot ignore it any longer.

Another year down this road
In many ways I’ve grown
Spontaneity, once my greatest fear
A trip into the unknown

I’ll stop seeing my body as a prison
A cage that I can’t escape
For this “prison” has fought many fights
And is still fighting until this day

I’ll view the world with a little less fear
And give open doors a chance
Tomorrow isn’t promised
So I’ll make every moment last

I’ll tend to my own garden
Watering the field in which I lay
No more searching for greener pastures
Just staying in my lane

The spring will bring new flowers
The weeds may still arise
I’ll nip all problems in the bud
I’ll no longer keep them inside

I’ll be a better person
I’ll learn from my mistakes
I’m not as lost as I once was
Maybe this year I will find my way

Dear Self,

I will do love better next time
Starting with me
I will love me better
Wake up in this body
Speak prayer over it
And remember that God
Ordained me worthy
Anointed me with special purpose
Not sacrifice
I will smile wide and full
No longer biting my tongue to keep my truth from falling out
I will love me better
Discontinuing to be confused on my value
Or of what I bring to the table
When I am the home that love is held in
I will lay flowers at my feet
So that the ground is blessed twice
By something sweet
I will love me better
Pour all my effort into my dreams
Instead of into the hands of another
I will love me better
Hold myself gently
when I feel calloused by my own thoughts
when my mind is spiraling with aspects of my ego
I will remind myself that this is path of being human
I will offer myself compassion
when everyone around me has run out of it
I will cup my hands
and whisper kindness into my palms
And place them on my heart until I feel warm again
I will make sure my cup overflows
Make sure to ask no one to fill it
I will be my own mind reader and interpreter
Trusting in myself and not needing someone to invalidate the doubt in me
I will love myself better
By leaving sticky notes of encouragement on my mirrors
When I feel like I’m slipping
I will grasp whichever limb I need
to keep myself from falling
And even if I fall
I will know that loving myself
means to get back up
And I will get back up
I will make mistakes
But I will love myself enough to learn from them
I will love myself better
To love a lover better
To give and accept love
For love’s sake
I will love myself better
Because there’s no greater love than the love of oneself
Dear Self,
You are the love of my life.

Dear Me,
You did the work
You trusted the process
Look, I know you, you’re going to move on to the next thing, to finish that next task but might I suggest your goal is to be present in what you’ve achieved?
You live in a house of your own
So feel at home
You’re feeling a lightness like never before
Step into that freedom
You learned things do work out in the most beautifully unexpected ways
Keep believing

Happy New Year.

Love,
Me

This year I choose no
Placating niceties
Diet plans
Burn, burn, count calories
Ignore your purpose and call it “eating right”
Shrink shrink shrink till your body
I mean your voice is so small
You must go to one to find it again

I chose no
Good girl cinderella
It’s-safer-if-I-let-him-think-he-saved-me
Good wife housekeeper, cook, event planner
Yes-I’m-happy-when-I-believe-my-value-is-based-on-how-I-serve-others

This year I choose
Real over nice
Ice Cream dripping down my chin
Chocolate from another’s tongue
Melt me on your lips
Expand expand expand arch, cry out YES
Till my presence, I mean voice, is so big
There is no room for fear or pounds or calories
I am worth the weight, the space, the time
And the best thing I ever shed was every voice that ever said
Be-nice-good-girl-don’t-cry-you’re-pretty

No. I choose storm.
I choose rain and electricity
And cry and jump in the puddles
Because I am not made of sugar

And I will let you make me the villian in your story
If it means being the hero in my own
Sew your red envy into a gown
That makes men kneel
And pity the cages you built around yourself

This year I choose no.
I mean me. I mean knowing myself.
Eat the fries. Travel, orgasm, take a lover
Say-the-brave-thing-be-the-wild-thing

We were never born to weight
To be saved or rescued or paid for
Never born to lose and lose and lose and lose
Ourselves

No.
We were born to remember
What it feels like to live
Muddy toes, the bubbles in champagne
Lipstick and and well placed expletives
The smell or orange peels and your own laughter
Yes.
This year I choose no.

Dear Unsealed,

My name is Chrys Takashige and I am sending my poem for your January writing contest. Thank you for taking the time to consider my entry,

Take care…Chrys

My Ascension

The year to
rise and shine.
“So long” to what was.
“Hello” to what is.
Still thriving.
Thankful to be sustained
by technology and humans
two decades plus.
Time to live more freely.
No cerebral road blocks,
nor abandoning of self.
Marching forward
to where euphoric states await,
in the ocean, on the greens, up on the hills.
Returning to acts of love,
from hermit to butterfly,
out and about it shall be.
The dormant right brain
to be awakened
on paper, with rhythms and cuisine.
Moving and grooving
through each day.
Attaining yin-yang status
on the see-saw of life.
The freedom to choose
what is ideal
for the life deserved.
No more compromising.
Forget wasting energy.
Drop the ungrateful.
Evolve into a light-weight
ready to fly and soar
beyond measure.

……………………………….
Vision reality — Pt.1✨
Dreams VS. Vision 💭
……………………………….
Dreams to me—
are what you see when you’re asleep

Vision, is what you set goals for—
to execute & achieve

I have so many goals in mind
& I believe what the mind can see—
you can bring to life

From Vision to Reality

But There’s just this little catch though

Sometimes it feels like it works
& sometimes—it feels like it don’t

Sometimes you get to keep somethings
Sometimes you won’t

Then there’s times—
you don’t even get to have it

Unless it’s in your dreams
& not reality

I know at times its felt so real
But then it quickly disappeared
Like quick sand slippen thru your hands
On it went—to never ever land

At first it hurts so much
You question everything—including you & your self-worth

Somethings are just not meant—for you though

Sometimes it’s just wrong size—
perhaps wrong address

Or simply just—
wrong timing

Alotta times—
things tend to look all pretty & shiny ✨

So much so—
they can easily become blinding

From afar they’ll bling —
attracting anyone & anything

Just remember—things aren’t always what they seem

Sometimes the ring don’t fit
Or your body don’t accept it

Sometimes I’m allergic
& my body rejects it

But with so many options in this world
Sometimes—
Just Sometimes—
Less is more

But don’t get discouraged—
I just want you to know

Worry bout yourself & your home

Everything else will fall into place for you—along the road

……………………………….
Vision reality — Pt 2. ✨✨
2024 Goals 📝
……………………………….

So when they ask me about my 2024
This is what I wrote

I set some goals
& I could easily tell you now
but my goals aren’t for everyone to know
I would rather show you how

I rather create my master plan—
have a talk upstairs w my old man
Jot them down—
remember how

The struggle is real
but God is Realer

How—plans are a guide
But usually never—fully set in stone

Sometimes you’ll go straight ahead—
sometimes you detour

Stay on your toes—
& ready for redirection

Cause the time will come—
when plans ain’t steady

Sometimes they go south
Sometimes they’ll go North

But don’t you worry—just hold tight
& don’t let go

Keep in mind—
there is more than one way—you can go

Just hand him the wheel—let him steer
& put your blinders on—
so you can see clear

Listen up & listen close
Be careful with all that—outside noise

Sometimes his voice can be real quite
So I do my best—to quite my surroundings

Cause—
How I’m suppose to hear him talking—
while listening to—“Yo Gotti”

God be tryna reach out to me—
after me asking him to guide me

But then—
I go straight into hiding

Hiding behind memes & streams—
that contradict what he believes

Catch what I’m saying?

I’m sorry Lord—I’m trying

I know you know best—
where I am—where I’m headed
& what needs—be left—behind me

Like that one time—
I had that vision of a business
But it didn’t make it

Named it—Vision Reality
I was so hopeful & determined

I held on to the idea—for some time
Tryna not—let go of it

I paid a lot of money out of pocket
Until I couldn’t pay—no more of it

Spent months & months—working on it
Alot of frustrating late nights—
that felt like wasted time

But no time is ever wasted—
if you chose to learn—from all the unexpected lessons

I know more now—then I did back then
& perhaps that—one failed attempt
will help me—perfect the next
……………………………….
Vision reality — Pt 3. ✨✨✨
Love Note Back To You 💙
……………………………….

So when I think about 2024
& my goals I have set forth—
I write them down & plan ahead
Always keeping in mind—Remembering

I’m never fully in charge—
I’ve never been

I always wanna be in control
& I know it’s time—I learn to let go

Let go—of my so called “Master Plans”
Lay them down into—the Real Masters Hands

Let him help me quite all the noise
Take my lil social media breaks—as needed
so I can fully hear his voice

Focus on my own goals & life—
not just sit back-chillin—
watching y’all live yours

Live my life for me
Remembering—

Not everything in life—
needs to be shared
Not everyone—
needs to know everything

W so many distractions—
It can be easy to be sucked into the madness
To forget—our own goals & visions

So I take breaks—when I start to feel low or stagnant
& I revisit

Revisit my goals & pray on em’
Cause soon as I get comfortable—
i’m uncomfortable again
knowin I should—be working on the next one

So I ask him to help me—shut the world out again
& all it’s nonsense
To give me back my tunnel vision
& let me get a lil glimpse of him

To not let this world stain my lenses
cause I hate to become blind
& a prisoner of my own mind
& rob myself—of my own blessings

But when everything around me’s—
fake news
When everything is wrong—
that I once thought to be true

All this & more—can really weigh on me
& I can’t lie—it can really get depressing

So I ask my God—
for some love notes—here & there
To let me get a glimpse of heaven—
util I myself—can finally get there

So for 2024—
there’s so much—that I plan to do

Most of all—I just want to become—
less of me & more of you

I really love to brag about your love for us
Cause I wish the world knew—it’s true

But vise versa—I could never brag about MY love for you

I know I fail you—every day
Real quick tho—I just wanna say

Thank you—Lord
For your provision & my daily bread

For the day you told me

Just hold on—you won’t regret it
Trust me—I got it

Cause even though it sometimes hurts—
I’ll take it

15 yrs later—You were right
I don’t regret it

2024—is yours Lord
Show me—just what you can do

I think I’m ready now
I wanna see you move

Let’s go—Let’s get it

God,
This is My Love Note back to you

💙🙏🏽

I don’t have resolutions and despite popular belief
I really don’t know what I’m doing
(especially going into this next year.)
Instead, I know more about who I am not
& I know what I will not do.

I will not wait.
for anyone or anything to like me
I have no desire to be likable to the people who see as debatable
I want to be loved fully and completely
I want to know that I am worth the fight
worth the discomfort
And worth the effort to try to get it right this time.

I will not linger.
on the pain or ambiguity.
part of the awakening / is the awareness /
that everything works out as it should.
there’s nothing I can do
there’s nothing you can do
there’s nothing anyone can do
to keep me from what’s mine and
anything ‘lost’ in the middle is merely practice
to lay my own impatience to rest.
“as I think, so I shall be.”
so I let go, consciously
knowing that I will be okay with the energy of the cosmos leading the way.

I will not be afraid.
I used to believe that fear was a super power capable enough of making me
smarter, sharper, faster,
but I clung to that too much
holding onto that belief until fear crippled me.
// I’m not doing that anymore //
living with fear at the forefront
has made me lose more than its ever made me gain.

last night, I drove to pahrump
alone at midnight.
it was pitch black out
nothing but mountains for miles and a thousands threats of danger lined both sides of the roadway.
But I kept driving
I kept going
and I prevailed by repeating that “I am not afraid”
// A new mantra when I start to lose my way. //

I will not doubt myself.
my sacral authority has been strengthened by
18,976 minutes of meditations.
my intuition is more than capable
of interpreting the signs
the numbers
and the meaning
of everything around me.
This is the power of woman
and all I need to do is listen.

I will not define myself by insanity.
I will not repeat the same patterns
and the same behaviors in hopes
of different outcomes.
there is an ebb and flow to everything / the yin and the yang /
perfect pairs that present truths
that I keep persuading myself as wrong.

“Maybe if I try harder, this time it’ll be different”.
“Maybe this time, they do just need space”
Maybe this. Maybe that.
But maybe not.

These are not chances that I am willing to take as I gamble my life away.

I will not stay silent.
I will not say yes when I mean no
I will not sit by and watch atrocities unfold
when I have a voice.
My boundaries
My emotions
My thoughts
My peace
are all inherently valid and will not be ignored.

This year
I don’t have resolutions
and I have no clue what I’m doing
but instead I have this simple equation
where I subtracting the distractions
add in new wisdom
multiply the joy
and diving the things I love
to find the real value.
to find the real me
the who already has everything
she needs because she understands her power
and know it lives inside her.

and I hope you can connect to that, too.

happy new year.