Cheers to Getting Over It...

Dear 2024,

This year will be all about getting over. That's right, getting over any and all things that stood in my way, or that I allowed to define me despite not being things from me. As well as my reaction to these forces that I didn't use to grow from, learn from... This year I will be getting over, growing with, because of? I will choose to Heal from.

The picture I chose to put with this letter is one I took at Caddillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas. I recently moved out of Texas and on the way out stopped here. This easy to miss, off shoot of land, is home to ten caddies stuck nose down into the earth. It has been a place that since the 70's people have gone out to, to make their mark. The beauty of this attraction is that it's ever changing and growing. Something that some people look at panicked, knowing their art is fleeting, soon to be covered by the next passerby... But what if we change our thinking? What if instead of seeing the work as fleeting, disappearing, being all for nothing, we look at it as something ever growing, changing, evolving.

This year through vocal, through writing, I plan to do exactly that. Get over the bullshit, take what resignates from my past, and evolve to a version of myself that I recognize. A version that writes raw and authentically. Who takes the good with the bad and adds chapters to my story, like layers of paint to the bigger picture. Connect with fellow creators, share the human experience and hopefully gain insights and biggest of all Relate. I think a large part of humans growing is by relating, sharing their truths and learning they aren't so alone. We all have stories to tell, and feelings to share, the way to choose to work through them all, write them out is endless and beautiful.

It's been a number of years since I dropped off vocal, not for any reason in particular despite life becoming comsuming. Bills to pay, hours to work. Love to feel and inevitably lose. Depression to battle, weight to flux, diets to yo-yo, locations to embark upon, middle of stories disguising themselves as new beginnings to unfold and reveal their true colors. Life to Live.

I think 2024, you will be the year to reflect, channel through the layers of life I let myself get lost in and use writing as the tool to sort it all out. Find myself again and hopefully in the proccess connect with the vocal community in all ways Human.

Much Love & Cheers to getting through it,

Hayley Matto