20 Dec Life and Business – 2022 Review
Life
2022 was a very challenging year…
I finally returned home to Australia after almost two years in December 2021, ready to spend Christmas with my family, and thinking that everything would be the way it’s always been. Little did I know that it was going to be the beginning of a transformation, the end of an era, and an opportunity to break a cycle.
It’s always a bittersweet moment when I return. A part of me is happy to experience what I miss while living in Vienna, but at the same time, I struggle to know where I belong as I’m seeing life through a different lens these days. My values, routines, and what I believe is right and wrong have changed. I’m hyper-aware of how I’m feeling, how my body is responding, and the energy of my surroundings – and I question these things, often. I used to suppress these things but now, it’s impossible for me to not be aware, especially when I’m home. For me, self-awareness is a self-care practice and a necessity when it comes to maintaining good mental health.
So much of my soul has changed since living in Australia and when I return home, it’s always a struggle to settle into an older way of life. There’s often a strong sense of being misunderstood by family. A lot of it could be inside my head and the stories I tell myself, but there are also moments when it’s not inside my head and I’m met with a rude shock.
Without going into detail, last Christmas, I was dealing with heavy heartache after having a fallout with a family member. I hate conflict and I avoid it at all costs. Normally, I don’t have any drama in my life. I’m very selective of my friends and I only associate with people who are mindful, self-reflected and focus on creating balanced and healthy relationships. This is mostly because I’m a highly sensitive person (HSP) and require a certain type of environment to be able to navigate through life with ease and flow. However, when it comes to family, it’s not always simple and boundaries can sometimes be thrown out the window, especially when toxic influences are involved.
Thankfully, I was able to remove myself from the situation and for the remainder of my time in Aus, I focused on spending quality time with family members who I felt most comfortable with and friends who lifted my spirits.
However, when I returned to Vienna in February, my emotions got the better of me and things just seemed to get worse. It was probably the darkest time I’ve experienced – trying to heal emotional wounds that happened before Christmas and at the same time, being hit with the news that my mother had secondary breast cancer – this time, in her bones.
March sucked. Being so far away from home and hearing the news that mum was extremely unwell took its toll on me. Do I stay in Vienna or do I go back home? This was the question I asked myself every day for the first few months while she tried to get the right medication to manage it. Things are still very much up in the air, but I’ve returned home to Australia since and can see she’s in very good hands. Now, we just have to take one day at a time and I’ve accepted the fact that life needs to be a bit more flexible from now on.
I was fortunate enough to spend last Christmas in Australia with my Grandpa and although my heart was heavy and working hard to heal from the drama that had recently occurred, it was one of the best Christmas celebrations I’ve had. Watching Grandpa unwrap his gifts, laugh, and joyfully drive around the golf cart while the family played a round of golf, brought so much happiness to my soul. Sadly, we had to say goodbye to Grandpa in July this year. I said my goodbyes from afar thanks to modern-day technology and enjoyed listening to all the stories shared by relatives as we celebrated his life. What a wonderful man he was. One of the most loving and kind-hearted men I’ve ever known. I’m grateful for his wisdom and trust that I will continue to receive guidance from him in spirit. It also brings me peace knowing that he has reunited with Grandma.
This year was mostly focused on mental health and healing. I was able to talk about all the things that weighed on my heart with a therapist, and it helped a lot. What also helped was Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT tapping). I’ve been doing it consistently for the past five months or so and it’s a practice that I will continue to do. I also engaged in a variety of creative projects – upcycling clothes, drawing flowers, embroidery, macrame, and sewing. I poured my heart and soul into my creative endeavours as they brought me so much happiness. In the space of creating, I was able to connect more with my intuition, be present, and surprise myself along the way. This year, my creative journey was at the same time, a healing journey.
Along with my creative projects, travelling brought me the most joy this year. I spent my 30th birthday in Budapest with Lorenz and it was such a magical weekend. Spa, great food, a dinner cruise on the Danube, art, culture, and flowers blooming. I was so grateful. Lorenz and I also travelled to Croatia, Italy with some friends, Slovenia, more of Italy, and more of Austria with my Dad. I was able to enjoy having Dad over here for most of the summer. We also went back to celebrate Oktoberfest again with my brother in Munich. And after that, I returned home again to Australia for one month to celebrate and be a bridesmaid in a friend’s wedding. I also spent quality time with my parents and maternal grandparents and returned to Vienna with a full cup at the end of October. It was at this point that I realised I’d healed many emotional wounds and grown a heck of a lot in 2022 – and I felt proud of it.
In addition, I’ve started to make Vienna feel more like home. It’s not my ‘forever home’ but I’ve learned that it’s important to create this feeling of home wherever you are. It’s something that we need to put effort into to feel content. So I put myself out there and started hosting regular brunch meetups for other expat women in Vienna. I have met countless women from all over the world, who are on a similar adventure to my own. I must connect with people who ‘get me’ and the expat community is where I belong at this stage of my life. Making friends has been a point of focus too and it’s going great so far.
Business
With all the emotional stuff going on, there were quite a few moments throughout the year when I felt like quitting my business. I feared it was too much for me to handle at times and struggled to see where it was even going. I’ve been chipping away at Sweet Smiling Soul for about seven years now – and for three years (more seriously). But it all felt so slow, and the ‘Aries’ in me was growing more and more impatient.
I took a step back this year and put the focus on healing myself and finding the answers in my creative projects. This helped me in my business. I started to believe in myself more and became open to brand new opportunities – things I’d never tried before. I created a variety of income streams instead of focusing on mentoring alone, and dabbled in freelance gigs such as content and website creation, copywriting, re-opening my Etsy store and selling my handmade creations online, and I recently hosted a macrame workshop and attended my first handmade market here in Vienna.
I also started learning to code and I’m halfway through getting a certificate in Web Development. Not sure where it’s going to take me but the act of trying something new (something I never thought I could do) has shifted the energy in my business and it is helping me to see a new perspective and path ahead. So I’m just going with it.
I feel the urge to simplify my business in 2023 and focus on one mentoring offer which will be a monthly mentorship. After hosting four months of group mentoring this year, I’ve realised that this is how I can support my clients best when it comes to finding purpose and doing more of what they love. So much can come from sharing stories with others who are on a similar path. I’m also looking to focus more on design, whether it be clothing, websites, or both! Let’s be real – I can NEVER do just one thing. But I can simplify and still engage in several ways to do business.
Design and mentoring will be the two main ways for my business to generate income. I’ll be entering a number ‘4’ year in numerology which is all about discipline, focus, and building foundations. Naturally, I feel the urge to put the focus on this anyway and have already started to take aligned steps. Accountability is something I require to move forward, so I will continue to seek this as well as guidance from trusted mentors.
So that’s about it!
Although it’s be a challenging year, it was also a transformative one and I enjoyed that part of it. I had many good things happen too and I appreciated those things more than usual.
Tried to keep this short… 🙈
I hope that sharing a little ‘behind the scenes’ over here inspires or helps you to realise that you’re not alone if you experienced difficult times this year. I think we need to talk about these things more. And if you need an ear to listen, you can always use mine! I’m quite great at listening and meeting you where you’re at and even better at making you feel good. I’m here for you 💗
I hope you can take some time to do a bit of 2022 reflection. Maybe paint a picture of how you’d like next year to be. Where do you want to be? What do you want to be doing? And who with? Think about it, write it down, and revisit it this time next year. I’m sure you’ll be amazed by what you’ve been able to achieve.
If you require guidance from a mentor to help you move forward, be sure to reach out to me. I’d love to see you inside Sweet Smiling Soul’s – Group Mentorship. It’s a safe space to retreat to and unload so that you can get clear on what you want and take aligned action.
Learn more about it here!
Take care and I look forward to connecting in 2023!
Lauren ☺️ xx