“Think of what you’d tell a friend you hadn’t seen in a year.” This is the idea behind a “now page” which is what this one is. Let’s get into it.
- moved to Vienna, Austria
- got married
- read 6 books in October and 21 in total this year (here’s the full list: theinnerdolphin.com/now/books/#8)
- went back to therapy
- visited Princeton, NJ; New York; Tampa, Florida; Reykjavík, Iceland; Barcelona, Spain; Prague, Czech Republic; Graz and Spital am Pyhrn, Austria; and home of course, Albania
- saw a New York bus run over my phone (it still worked!)
- saw Ben Howard live. Someone there said I looked like a goddess. I felt like one seeing Ben Howard live, the only singer in this world I’ve dedicated a playlist to, Ben Howard who said a few years ago he wasn’t doing any more tours, Ben Howard whose music I grew up with
- meditated for 2564 days as of today
- got reposted by Chris Klemens and Jerry Colonna, two vastly different people I admire which should tell you about how ✨nuanced✨ I am
- had many espresso martinis and likely just as many dirty martinis
- ran my first marathon
- celebrated our 5 year anniversary and the birth of my partner’s nephew and my grandma’s 80th birthday
- got a lens stuck in my eye for 2 weeks
- almost drowned in Dhërmi in an incident involving unusually large waves and metal wires in the sea (Klesti saved me)
- fell in love with edamame and plantain chips and espresso tonics
- visited a few museums and had remarkably normal, human experiences in them
- realized I’m an introvert while reading Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking
- bought myself a beautiful watch. I had worn the other one for 10 years straight. It was a gift from my parents when I went to college.
- hung out in Vienna or Tirana or Barcelona with friends: Armanda, Fjolla, Aidi, Smarula, Alba, Sara, Megi, Dea, Xhoi, Andia, Oerd, Ari, Paola. I love my friends.
- one more item crossed off my bucket list: I gifted my dad US Open tickets
- Marshallah was my most-played song in 2023 (check out my playlists)
- worked for 20 different clients including Stanford and Google and Meta, running workshops and doing things like content inventories, sitemaps, content models, page description diagrams
- took 52 screenshots of client/colleague/reader feedback which I open and smile at sometimes (highly recommend: Get your work recognized: write a brag document)
- launched the new The Inner Dolphin homepage and talked about it on Instagram
- gave personalized solicited relationship advice to a reader. It might surprise you to hear this was my 3rd (or 4th?) time doing this.
- wrote Boundaries and starting over: Haircuts & blood samples in January
- wrote The 3 Phrases of Making a Major (or Minor) Life Change in February
- wrote I’ve been lying to you in March
- wrote Matt Levine & The Impact of Nonnative English Speakers on the Workplace in April
- wrote Another scary story about my eye in August
Check out my previous updates: 2022, 2021, 2020. Read about the now movement. Keep in touch by subscribing to my newsletter or following me on Instagram.
Wow!!!!!! So many accomplishments & growth in a year! Congratulations on a full life well lived and manifested by YOU and you only ❤️
Your articles gives a lot of good vibes. Congrats for your life experience sharing with us. We have so much to learn from you, my lovely Delfina. Happy New Year 2024! Wishing a lot of beautiful things to you!