My 2024 in numbers
T-minus 3, 2, 1 to my year-end wrap party 🍾
What’s ahead:
A recap of my year in numbers
Zeitgeist-y: My top 3 films of the year
Welcome to the end of the year!
What in the world was 2024 but a fast breeze that came in as fast as it rushed out.
Depending on whatever happened, you’re elated or exasperated.
Content entrepreneur | Agency Founder & CEO | Bestselling author Featured in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, Bankrate, Cheddar TV, and HuffPost | Join more than 6,480 people on the internet who follow me for discerning lifestyle, travel, and money content:
I’m feeling fairly good and extremely grateful.
I made it through another year largely unscathed and adequately committed to my health, wealth, and happiness.
All while keeping myself (and Mr. Bean) fed, clothed, and under a roof— survival essentials to be thankful for.
Everything else is ancillary.
Without further ado, a 2024 lookback
This past year, I:
Published 52 weekly Substack articles (including this one)
Got my first paid social media brand partnership (with an anti-jet-lag supplements company)
Wrote 5 articles as a new food writer for Eater Carolinas in the Charlotte area (my 2nd home, when not in Miami). Here are a few:
Worked with a private client for an annual content consulting project
Developed a skill to be a more proficient video editor
Had my first speaking engagement since October 2022
Made an entry in my gratitude journal 108 days or roughly 30% of the year
Traveled to a new country, Turkey
Traveled to a familiar country, Taiwan
Traveled to both new and familiar American cities, for example:
Achieved service dog distinction for Mr. Bean as we traveled around the U.S. and shuttled between Florida and North Carolina
Saw 4 girlfriends get pregnant/have babies
Attended 1 wedding
Attended 4 concerts, 1 live show, 1 music festival, 1 baseball game, and 1 basketball game
Walked with Bean more than 600x, gave him more than 35,000 kisses
Spent 17 hours+ working out with Peloton, and 36 consecutive weeks on ALO Moves
And finally, the immeasurable, but priceless:
Countless gorgeous sunrises and sunsets
Reconnections with friends
Time with family
Self improvement with therapy and recuperating
Financial freedom and independence
Zeitgeist-y: My top 3 films of the year
None of my these are for the faint of heart 😉.
I love horror or horror-action scary movies.
Though I get squeamish and cover my eyes at times, I like them because they make me feel something.
I also find them to be the most creative forms of filmmaking because the director and screenwriter have the extra task of evoking irrational fear and forcing the audience to question reality.
If they can achieve either or both without losing the plot, then they deserve even more kudos.
In no particular order, these were my top 3 films of the year:
Strange Darling
This movie is unsettling from the start, but it’s the originality, action, violence, and twist that keep you absorbed throughout. It also makes you question your general biases, which is always fun.
The Substance
Perhaps even scarier than the film's flesh and gore is how much we can relate to Demi Moore’s character; we feel it, we know it, and we almost take it personally—the cruelty of rejection and ageism, the envy and longing to be more, or the most beautiful, and the crippling self-doubt and self-loathing.
When I first moved to London I was reality checked by how all the women seemed more beautiful, taller, and better dressed than me. Of course, I learned a lot and it impacted me positively in the end, but it can be quite a revelation if you're not mentally ready for the impact of an emotional freight train. This movie kicked up all of those feelings but most of all made me feel even more comfortable in my own skin.
Smile 2
This film picks right up where the first left off, and they couldn’t have cast a better female lead (Naomi Scott aka Disney’s live action Princess Jasmine). Scary, creepy, memorable, and the right balance of evil and paranormal, I was captivated from start to finish.
How was your year?
Did it go by in a flash or did it move like molasses?
How are you spending New Year’s Eve? I’d love to know! Hit reply or comment below!
Thank you for reading this year, Happy New Year and best wishes for a fantastic 2025.🫶
Note: I’ll be taking a writing break the first week of the year, so I’ll see you back with a new newsletter on Friday, January 10th, 2025.🍾
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Until next time,
Shindy
On Instagram + TikTok
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