2023: The Year to Come

Welcome to 2023! The changing of the year always has brought about a sense of dread to me as, even from a young age, I knew it would never be the previous year ever again. 2022? It's done, never to be experienced again and whether I was 8 years old, or 39, there's something gravely terminal about it that saddens me. 

Speaking of 39... oh goodness! 2023 will be the year I turn 40. Midlife crisis? Probably not, but turning 30 was a trying experience a decade ago made more so by the 5th grader that, at a presentation, asked how old I was, and I responded that I had turned 30 last week and she said, "30? EWWWWW!" I took it in stride and told her that she should remember that day forever and when she turned 30, I would hope she would remember "EWWWWWW!"

Banter from students aside, the turning of 40 is, obviously, a major milestone. There's probably a mix of being human and a hint of autism in this mix as I've always heard of people dreading this milestone, so I have that but also the fact I will never have a 3 at the start of my age again. Ever. It's going to be a trying experience which is why I'm doing the "healthy" thing and running away for my birthday. Yes, for the second time in my life my birthday will be celebrated on the island of Réunion. I went there in 2016 as part of a blog project, which the week leading up to this year's trip I'll run a couple of the posts from back then to compare, that saw me travel to places pretty much ill-prepared to see if I could navigate new places where I knew no one and didn't know the language.

Once again in 2023, I'll be in the flagstand for the NTT INDYCAR Series, including flagging the 107th edition of the world's greatest race, the Indianapolis 500. I can't wait for the season to kick off in St. Pete and I look forward to sharing with you more stories from the road.

That's the stage set for the year. I can't wait to share the insights I have, the stories of hope, and the trip to the island should have more than enough writing material for a stellar blog or two, or ten. 

Here's to 2023! The year's begun, let's make it great!