I Manifested All of This Last Year ✨

personal letter

At the beginning of 2024, my friend Miri posted this quote (the one you can read on the image). I don’t know the author, but it hit me instantly.

Ever since 2020, life had been a rollercoaster, and by the end of 2023, it felt like mostly downs. If you’ve meditated with me in THE ART OF BEING YOU, you’ve heard this before—feel free to skip ahead. If not, here’s the short version:

• In late 2021, I separated from my ex. No apartment, no stable home for almost two years. Huge shoutout to my friends, especially Miri, who let me be her roommate for a year. 🖤 After that, it was a lot of moving around. My little Chihuahua lady, Amy, still panics at the sight of moving boxes. I don’t blame her.

• Business was slowing down. I had been self-employed for a decade (Creative Communications, Events, Production), but Covid wiped out 90% of my work.

• Teaching yoga & meditation online wasn’t meant to be my full-time thing. Circumstances pushed me into it. And while I loved the community and teaching itself, relying on it financially never sat right with me.

• Then the Finanzamt knocked, I mean perfect timing. My tax attorney made mistakes, and I paid the price — literally. Thankfully, I had savings. But security? Byeeee. Also my nervous system? A bit messy.

So there I was. No home, no money, almost no business.

You know that analogy of life being like a chair? Don’t worry, I made it up. Here it comes: One leg is work, one is finances, one is home, and one is community. Well, three of my legs were broken, and I was trying to sit.

How About a “Real” Job?

Enter my dear friend Kristina, on a gloomy 2023 Fall day: “Why don’t you get a ‘real’ job? Just for a while, to get back on your feet?”

Something clicked. So I did. One application. Two conversations. Job offer. Start date? February 2024. And thank goodness I did.

By early 2024, I had:

✔️ A job

✔️ An apartment

✔️ And ready to take a break — from teaching, Instagram, the podcast, all of it

And then Miri shared that quote. I saved it to my phone only to forgot all about it right after.

Fast forward to 2025, while I was changing my lock screen, there it was: The QUOTE. I just burst out laughing. I just had to.

Every sentence had come true. I had manifested everything on that list that I hadn’t even written myself — and all of it without even trying.

The Year I Stopped Striving

Don’t get me wrong — I like the job (especially the people), but it has nothing to do with who I am. It doesn’t define me, and that feels… freeing.

Even more freeing? Realizing how attached I was to the identity of being the “meditation teacher.” My identity had been so wrapped up in that, I wasn’t even aware of it. Finally this past year, I learned to let that go.

So, what did I do or better yet what did I manifest.

• I hung out with my friends.

  We went to the movies A LOT. The theater A LOT. We protested. We ate. We hang out on the couch. We went on a few trips.

  📸 No photos. No videos. No monetization. No proof. Nothing was publicized. Nothing was monetized. Everything was. And everything is still a memory

• I fell in love.

  Gotcha! Not what you think. 😆

  I fell in love with strength training. We had a short affair in my 30s, but I wasn’t ready to commit. This time, I was. I dove in fully, as I tend to do, training with my favorite coach. Because, you know me—when I’m into something, I really get into it. (Let me know if you wanna know more, it could be another letter. 💪) This random hobby isn’t something I’ll monetize (ever). I do it for me—so that at 80, I can still carry my groceries and walk up the stairs. And, okay, maybe a little because I love out-repping the gym bros on pull-ups.

• I celebrated - a lot.

  Every time the sun came out, Amy (🐶) and I celebrated by walking around Museum Island. We celebrated the trees, the birds, the coffee (for me) and croissant crumbs (for her).

  We celebrated brunches and dinners, the little moments, the mundane ones—the ones that seem like nothing but are actually everything.

That wasn’t it - the most freeing part?!

I didn’t strive for anything exceptional.

I wasn’t trying to be anyone. I wasn’t trying to achieve anything. And that I guess, was the most liberating part.

Because in the end, being a sentient, ordinary blob who takes immense pleasure in resting, chilling, and doing random, useless things just because—was one of the greatest joys I don’t want to live without.

The Big “Manifestation” Secret 🤡

I manifested all of this by doing… NOTHING.

• I didn’t let go of limiting beliefs.

• I didn’t question my existence.

• I didn’t have to transform myself over and over again to fit some ideal.

I just shifted a few priorities that made sense at the time. And without even thinking about it—voilà. Manifested.

(Oh, and while all this was happening? Most of the money I had to pay the Finanzamt found its way back to me. From unexpected sources. I saved more than I had in years. I even took paid vacation. And when I typed in "paid vacation" at work, I laughed/cried so hard my colleagues were genuinely concerned. After 10 years of always working, the concept of paid time off felt… surreal. Best vacation in a long time—no computer, no phone, no proof. Just memories.)

Try Being an Ordinary Blob

And even so I am not here to give advice, if this quote resonates with you in any way, I highly recommend trying the sentient ordinary blob life. Maybe not for a year, but for a few months. Or however long feels right.

Tell me—how was your last year? 👇