#Year End

[creatingnikki]

another year is ending and I want you to know that it is okay if you:

have not healed from the things that happened/did not happen from six months ago. just because the year is ending it does not mean your grief is too.

don't have any "fun" NYE plans to ring in the new year. this life is yours to live across days and months and years, and you can celebrate days other than the ones heavily marketed and shoved down your throat to shroud you in severe FOMO.

have no resolutions or goals for 2024 laid out in elaborate lists or shared on social media or with your friends. you are braving through this life trying to do your best every day and hold the fort and so of course you know, deep down you know what is needed from you for you going forward and of course you are going to work in that direction. good luck love.

have not become a "better" version of yourself by any of the tangible or conventional measures. that kind of bettering is mostly to serve others, not yourself.

are not happy with yourself/your life as it is now. you're a work-in-progress, remember? and if you're progressing in a direction you do not like, then it's time to change the blueprints and the strategy.

take time off social media around this time to protect your mental health and whatever little joy you have managed to keep.

don't want to spend too much time reflecting on how this past year went and doing various forms of 2023-wrapped. again, it's your life. you can also revisit this year in memories and pictures and feelings whenever you'd like. it's not like you don't still visit 2012, 2017, and 2022, right?

feel disconnected from your friends, family, lover. I know this is "ideally" a time to be celebrated with your loved ones. but life is not ideal, is it? it's just life. and if right now you are not feeling the love, the joy, or just don't have the headspace or social energy to engage , that's alright.

are finding comfort in simpler things like a TV show from the 90s or that book you first read at sixteen or that slice of strawberry cake or a random post like this you come across.

don't feel hopeful, encouraged, or excited for 2024. given everything that's happened in the last couple of years, on the macro and micro level, it's only natural for you to feel weary as well as wary. when the good things happen, when the healing happens, when things begin working in your favour over time, you will automatically feel all those things. it's okay if until then you choose to be neutral.

[brysmaleidols]

Best boys and boy moments of 2023

So, this year delivered a bit of a two-fer. Your favorite post was Ross Lynch in Troye Sivan’s “One of Your Girls,” and then there is Troye himself putting out an amazing album and three banging singles. We also got Jake and Devon getting steamy in “Chucky,” and Charlie and Nick doing the same in “Heartstopper”. Johnny Orlando learned to take off his shirt nightly during his world tour – as did Ross. Noah Schnapp came out and started thirst-trapping. And then there’s the most intriguing gay trio – Sebastian Croft, Charlie Besso and Connor Jessup -- who don’t say anything, but were everywhere together for months over the summer and fall.

[purpleketchup16]

2023, year end drawing..

[vivibene1]

My Favorite 5 - 2023 | ©vivibene1 | Linktree

1. Blue

2. A Decade

3. Sultry Sunday

4. Wild Irish Rose

5. Sun-Kissed Simplicity

Thanks @luxlit for hosting!

[landscapeexposurenetwork]

Thank you again for another great year allowing us to share original photographers with you. We will be taking a break and return January 8th. In the meantime we have set up a queue filled with photos from our past featured blogs this year. If you are looking for new blogs to follow, please have a look at the list below. We have listed a general description of the types of photos each blog posts, so it will be easier for you to find the ones you like. And of course applications are still open during our break. Hope to see you all again in 2024. Happy holidays and much love from all of us at LEN.

January 341 @cissaking (landscape) 342 @foliorumviridis (forests, landscape) 343 @rchrgd (nature, forests) 344 @marljin (forests)

February 345 @highways-are-liminal-spaces (landscape, animals) 346 @dk-thrive (landscape, quotes) 347 @fotozeiger (landscape) 348 @alyaly (landscape, flowers)

March 349 @joeswildlifephotos (animals, landscape) 350 @silver-frog (landscape, urban) 351 @bedr-focus (landscape, urban, animals) 352 @alli-takes-photos (nature, landscape, urban)

April 353 @thethingsiveseen-photography (landscape, animals, flowers) 354 @rock-cedar-mosquito (forests, landscape) 355 @zedensposts (landscape, animals) 356 @whitneybarkman (nature, forests)

May 357 @renmoldovan (landscape, animals) 358 @gettinglostisnotawasteoftime (landscape, forests) 359 @nwalthall (landscape, flowers, portrait) 360 @ivacunja (landscape) 361 @moer-koffie (flowers, animals)

June 362 @lbk-photography (landscape) 363 @stillwater67 (landscape, urban) 364 @desomnis (landscape, urban) 365 @tomo8455 (flowers, animals, landscape)

July 366 @bluebelly-sun-serpentine (nature, landscape) 367 @carmen-art (landscape) 368 @thomaswaynewolf (landscape) 369 @birdmemorandum (birds) 370 @thecorpsofrediscovery (landscape, urban)

August 371 @orofeaiel (forests, fungi, animals) 372 @sugiichi (birds) 373 @oscar-out-of-a-suitcase (landscape, urban) 374 @pela-schmidt (landscape)

September 375 @andulkaphoto (nature, urban) 376 @orendarling (landscape, urban) 377 @thomas--bombadil (birds) 378 @kiteknots (nature, forests)

October 379 @differentharmonywasteland (nature) 380 @zocher (landscape, flowers) 381 @mbhfphotos (nature, fungi, forests) 382 @wild-e-eep (nature, fungi, animals) 383 @franz-bauch-foto (forests)

November 384 @vnvnationfan (landscape, flowers) 385 @sssnapspics (nature, animals) 386 @ohlsdorf-cemetery (nature, forests, cemeteries) 387 @flippantsmeagol (landscape)

December 388 @coenderuiter (landscape, forests) 389 @opdrie (landscape, forests)

2022 Featured Blogs | 2021 Featured Blogs  2020 Featured Blogs | 2019 Featured Blogs  2018 Featured Blogs | 2017 Featured Blogs   2016 Featured Blogs

[inyoureyes69]

My Favorite 5 - 2023 | ©inyoureyes69 | Linktree

1. Pamplona

2. Sunset Wheelies

3. Surf Lessons

4. Umbrella Alley

5. Autumn Mornings

Thanks for hosting again @luxlit

[thesensteawitch]

2023 Farewell Message For You!🍃🥀🍃🥀🍃

Pick A Pile Reading

(Left to Right- Pile 1, Pile 2, Pile 3)

Hello, Senstea Souls!

I am back with another collective reading for the year-end. Each pile is divided into two segments:

•What this last month is taking away from you?

•What this last month will give you as a parting gift?

Get your year-ahead (2024) reading from me aka The Sensteawitch and get to know what the next year has in store for you in terms of relationships, career, and finances. To avail yourself $5 off on your reading be quick to book your reading! Only the first 5 will get the discount. Below are the three spreads I created for the 2024 year check:

🌷Booking Form🌷

Now begin your reading.

Pile 1

What this last month is taking away from you?

Tarot Cards: The Fool, The Tower, Five of Wands, Sevan of Pentacles

This last month is going to take away your overconfidence and blind faith. Things will fall only to make you understand the importance of going slow when building strong foundations. In work or friendship, you may face a dispute. Everyone will be pointing fingers at each other. The project you have been working on will face problems. You will lose your calm. You may not see whose fault it would be but you'll see that the dispute was the price you needed to pay to finally turn towards self-confidence. You will know where to invest your energy and money. Soon you'll gain back your patience and share a tip from your book to resolve issues. You'll finally grow new opportunities with experience and knowledge. You'll be the one making adjustments to bring things back to their place.

What this last month will give you as a parting gift?

Tarot Cards: King of Wands, King of Cups, Three of Swords, The Temperance

A new vision will be gifted to you. An advice will stay with you for a lifetime. You'll find the courage to sail through the unsettling waters. You'll know your way to the land and then back again to the ocean. You won't sit and wait for the situation to magically turn better. You would rather find balance within than outside. Spend time near waterbodies to find your balance. This month will allow you to cherish the uncertainty of life and make the best use of it. This opportunity will help you find certainty within yourself. Rather than cursing the rain you would leave your work and go out to drench yourself. You'll be letting go of control and will be gaining some deep insights into life.

Pile 2

What this last month is taking away from you?

Tarot Cards: Eight of Pentacles, The Hanged Man, King of Wands, Three of Swords, King of Cups

The last month of this year is taking away your pain and your perfectionist attitude towards your work. It is taking your self-sacrificial nature. Take care of your health, pile 2. You may fall sick only to understand that health is wealth. Without health, you won't be able to perform the tasks you are passionate about. Nothing should be done at the cost of your well-being. Some of you may be teachers or counselors. Or you may be someone needing therapy. I hear, “I stay up all night. Tell my friends I am alright.” But you are not. You're doing things that aren't even your responsibility which can make you go through an identity crisis. The Universe will take away your attention from your work only to make you realize that you are more than your work. A human being is more about what they cannot do and in the race of proving ourselves, we forget that we can do anything but not everything. Either you stop or things will blast in the end because your emotions are being piled up and you are paying no heed to them.

What this last month will give you as a parting gift?

Tarot Cards: Queen of wands, four of swords, eight of cups, eight of swords

I see a lot of 8s in your reading. Maybe the number 8 is important to you or you have been seeing a lot of 8 recently. A new start is coming in your life. The Universe will be blessing you with the time to rest and rejuvenate. Walking away from relationships may not feel like actually walking away because you may find yourself back to them. You will be feeling stuck. Hence, the Universe will be gifting you with enough resources to fly away. It's on you to see the gift that you have been carrying all along. This month is going to be all about truly freeing yourself and not distracting yourself. The universe will try to connect with you through angel numbers and synchronicities. You would be amazed. You'll be gifted with faith in the impossible. You may think what kind of gift it is but you'll know how strong and divine ‘faith’ is. It will open new doors of possibility for you.

Pile 3

What this last month is taking away from you?

Tarot Cards: The High Priestess, Six of Cups, King of Cups, Three of Swords

The universe is going to separate you from your old friend or someone you have known for a very long time. It will cause immense pain. You'll be overwhelmed. I hear, “There wouldn't be a reason why we even had to say goodbye.” Yeah, there wouldn't be one of those great human reasons. But the reason will be divine. You will be imagining your reaction to what you have to say to your person. The universe will be doing this only to make you see the bigger picture or else you will always stay stuck between the polarity of the situation. The universe wants you to see that there is a midway. And you can only see it when you step back and look at the picture from afar. I hear, “Oh whatever tears you apart don't let it break your heart....when the highs are too high and the lows are too low. When you love someone and they let you go. Don't you let it kill you...Time takes time to heal it.” Your pessimistic approach will be taken away from you. Shed as many tears as you want because eventually as the full moon nears you are going to turn into a wolf. You can't dominate the situation you only have power over and within yourself.

What this last month will give you as a parting gift?

Tarot Cards: Three of Cups, Knight of Swords, Knight of Pentacles, Five of Pentacles

The Universe will bless you with a sudden rush of downloads with loads of wisdom. It will offer you exactly what you will seek during the last month. The universe will also bless you with a new connection but I am not sure if you'll be open to them. This new connection will give you exactly what you will be looking for. Expect a treasure coming your way. You'll be expressing your emotions with your friends but be sure to take things slow and not reveal every minute detail in the first conversation or meeting. You will be asked to release the negativity. Be forgiving and ask for forgiveness. You'll be blessed with people who will help you move on.

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[ksjanes]

Least Favorite

My top 5 least favorite posts of the year. When reviewing the least favorite their was a theme, the most personal posts that were more about me, my likes and interests were the least liked. Most of my posts that were images and words connected to nature were most liked. The first two are more recent so they may get more likes. Who knows this post be my new least favorite.

Hans Christian Andersen

"Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower."

[drarrily-we-row-along]

2023 Year End Review

2023 has been a year.

For me personally, it's been a year full of discovery, full of fears and full of love; euphoric highs and desolate lows. This time of year is very hard for me; I hope that the coming year has a bit more stability, and a bit more hope/promise for what the future will hold. But this year was certainly not without its gifts. I know myself better than I did the year before, I've wrestled with the Lord and experienced a greater depth of Their love than I ever have, and I have allowed myself to fully enter into the mortifying (horrifying) ordeal of being known and deeply loved by another human for the first time in a very long time (perhaps more fully than I ever have). I'm not sure what more I could ask for from a year, to be honest.

As far as writing has gone, I've done significantly less writing this year than I have the past two. Writing has been really hard the past couple of months and I hope that I'll be able to get back into the swing of things this year.

In 2023:

89 Fics (mostly short little fics and microfics this year)

120,191 words

This year also saw the crossing of the following (momentous, for me) milestones:

Over 700 User Subscriptions on AO3

Over 2,500(!) followers on Tumblr (genuinely, what the heck? When did that happen?)

Over 400 fics posted on AO3

Over 1,300,000 total words posted on AO3

Over 1,200,000 hits on said works on AO3

Over 125,000 kudos on said works on AO3

When I started reading fanfiction, I never would have imagined that I could have written and posted that many stories, or all of those words. I remember looking at authors' dashboards and perusing their stories and being in awe of their creativity and ability to spin their words into entire worlds for me to fall into. And I thought never, in a million years, could I be one of those authors. What a delight, what an immense blessing to be able create.

Thanks for coming along on this journey with me. May 2024 come with immense blessings for you and your loved ones. <3

[hannahorca]

My favorite pieces completed in 2022!

[wondering-whispers]

Something about fall that makes me feel so nostalgic

[darkpoetrynprose]

“December is letting go, Of all the past year's fails, And starting anew in January, As time again chases its tail.”

― Stewart Stafford

[evilishei]

So as the year gradually closes, allow me to admit that I was truly so close to quitting writing stories for my OTP. It was a bumpy ride these last few months and I also kind of lost inspiration along with some creative juices and also kind of got annoyed with the fact the as much as you hold the fort for so long, a sudden surge of wave just might crush it to smithereens and drown you into oblivion. There was also the realization that no matter how much effort you put into something there will be times that it’ll be under appreciated and overlooked. It just put a damper to everything and it felt like a turning point for me.

But luckily, all that passed. And very quickly too. It’s still not the time to put the pen down. Plus, I need to keep my promise to myself that I will write a multi-chap no matter how long it took. Good thing my ship still have me on a very tight chokehold. And they don’t want to let go.

That said, I wish everyone a happy 2024! May all our plans came to fruition, may everything be well and may we keep giving our fav ship some lovin’ this coming year.

[creatingnikki]

December 2023

The strawberries are here and the red decor too and now Christmas songs have started to play in cafés.

I want to reflect on this year and "wrap it up" so that when I look back at it, at 2023, at being 26, I have a narrative that feels comprehensive. But a narrative for whom? Myself mostly. But also for those I meet. I'm a storyteller. I like narrating everything. Like I'd probably tell that story about that spontaneous 2:30 am drive out the city in late February or the time I almost booked a flight to Chennai or that April night at the rooftop that felt out of smut booktok would obsess over or that midnight in late July when I felt at peace in the arms of a man for the first time. Would I want to tell them about that September evening at the beach holding a white rose and crying like my heart had floated away never to return? I do not know.

How to look back at these 11 months and counting? I don't feel arrogant enough like when I was younger to make lists that sound poetic and profound about my year and the things I learned when now I know the lessons keep repeating, that this is life of mine is very Sisyphean.

Nor do I feel like I want to be harsh on myself and marinate in feelings of incompentency and regret over wasted time and unmet goals and murdered dreams.

I am excited for 2024 but equally scared. But I'm not there yet. I cannot focus on 2024 until I feel like I've said my farewell to 2023. Time may be an illusion but it is my favourite tool to process life. One year ago this time, three years from now, when I was nineteen, when I turn thirty eight...I like to think in terms of time. It doesn't shackle me, it serves me.

December. What do we do with you this time? I'll eat the strawberries and I'll go to the parties and I'll try to find gratitude and reflect over things. But if I only mostly catch up on sleep and enjoy the cool breeze, will you let me proceed?

[roseintherain]

Year end summary with Neuvia 🌦

Thank you so much to everyone who made this year awesome🥹

I’ll be signing off for the rest of 2023 and will be back on 2024 💕

Advance happy new year!