There are years that race by, and then there are the rare ones that ask you to linger.
A year where it’s okay to miss a subway stop, or start the day a little late. Nothing collapses. You begin to realise that not everything needs to be rushed. In fact, the most meaningful moments often happen when you’re not trying to make anything happen at all.
2017 year gave me something I didn’t know I needed – the gift of slow travel – of truly being present. Sitting on a friend’s terrace with a drink in hand. Taking someone flowers, just because. A long walk home filled with conversation. Cooking a meal together. The simple joy of watching the sun show up for us.
These aren’t recurring calendar events. People move, schedules shift, and everyone is balancing their own chaos, trying to hold it all together. But every now and then, you find yourself with time, and if you’re lucky, with people you love. That’s when the nothing moments become everything.
In the world I’m building at Ladies Who Lead, we talk a lot about ambition, purpose, and leadership. But I’ve come to believe that how we spend our time and who we spend it with might just be the most important decision of all. So no, I didn’t hit every restaurant or power through three museums in a day. But I did laugh till my stomach hurt, breathe deeply, and look people in the eye without checking my phone. And that’s what I’ll remember.
Because in the end, it’s not the hustle but the heart that makes the memory.
Till the next quiet year finds me again.