2024: A Retrospective I
Part One
Welcome to The Autumn Chronicles, a place to shine a light on all the wonder around us as we navigate the seasons. I hope these writings allow you to sit quietly with a cup of something warm and comforting and take a few moments for yourself away from the rush and hurry. If you would like to make sure you get all newsletters directly to your inbox, please subscribe below. Thank you for being here. All photos © The Autumn Chronicles.
December brings with her some of the things that are so beautiful about this time of year: frosty mornings where your breath steams in the air as you huddle further into your big winter coat, hearty food that warms the soul and the body, and the soft radiance of fairy lights peeking out from behind the curtains of each house, hinting at the promise and excitement of the impending festivities. This month is one of my favourites of the year. It is easy to allow yourself to be carried away on a wave of anticipation and joy, expectation and hope for all that is to come and to start to notice the gentle shimmer of the New Year, like the first rays of light in a sunrise, appearing on the horizon with a hint of fresh starts and blank pages.
Every year I make a calendar for family and friends with a photo I have taken in the preceding year as the masthead for each month. It is a wonderful way to remember the highlights of another year gone by and to share those glimmers with the people closest to me. It serves as a retrospective; reflecting on all that has happened and allowing me to consider what I would like to do differently in the year ahead. 2024 has been a year filled with some struggles but, more importantly, some wonderful experiences. It is the last year of my 30s and has been a year of discovery - of getting back in touch with who I am, where I am at this stage in my life, what I want my life to be like, what is important to me, what depletes me and what fills me up, what my core values are - and I feel ready to take on the challenges of both a new year and a new decade.
This post will come in two parts as the photos make the email too long so below, for your viewing pleasure, you will find January to June. July to December will come next week. My intention is always to take a photo in the month that it will represent on next year’s calendar but it never turns out that way.
January
I took this photo on my 39th birthday. Having an early January birthday is tricky because the weather is usually grey and cold, everyone is exhausted from the Christmas and New Year festivities and the general instinct is to want to snuggle down inside and hibernate. My husband tries really hard to make every miserable January birthday really special and, this year, as the weather wasn’t terrible - very cold but hints of blue skies and sunshine - we decided to do a walk around Richmond, an area of London that we had spent time in before but that we had re-discovered through watching Ted Lasso. We had a lovely day wandering around, having lunch by the river, drinking a birthday G&T in the pub on the corner of the street where Ted Lasso’s apartment is located in the series and then meeting up with wonderful friends back at home in the evening. It was the perfect way to kick off the last year of my 30s and made me realise that, unlike the constant whirl of activity in my 20s, I am softening into the ease and happiness of simple pleasures.
February
When my husband and I were dating and first moved in together, we lived in a house in Windsor. We both loved living there; having the Great Park on our doorstep meant lots of long walks at the weekends, tracking the seasons and enjoying the gorgeous scenery. We eventually moved due to job changes and difficult commutes but I often wonder if we will settle there permanently when we retire. It’s still one of our favourite places to visit and we love to go walking in the Great Park on quiet Sundays. There are 4,800 acres to explore so there is always something new to see and one of my favourite times to go is at sunset in the autumn and winter, when the trees make a stark silhouette against the sky. I always feel calm and safe there; it’s the perfect place to go to feel grounded and to centre yourself before the onslaught of a new week - or a new year.
March
I’ve written before about my love for London but I don’t think I realised how much London has become part of my personality. I have always been a city girl; I love to walk around cities because they are such a window into the lives of their inhabitants. There are so many things to see and do and, while it is easy to feel exhausted by the constant thrust and hum of life in a city, I love the fact that it is ever changing. London has many downsides - it’s dirty, it’s expensive, it’s always busy - but it also has its own particular brand of magic. It has existed in one form or another for almost 2000 years and I always find it humbling to think about the people who lived here before me in all of the different iterations of the city over that time. To walk through London is really to walk through history - from prehistoric settlements to the Romans to the Second World War to the modern day and everything in between. I love being a small, transitory part of the history of this city.
April
This had been on my to visit list for a long time and we finally made it around our wedding anniversary in June. The place was full of couples having engagement or wedding shoots so it was hard to dodge the entourages - I had never seen so many photographers, make up artists, stylists and personal assistants in one place before. This photo was actually taken by my husband who managed to capture the money shot. I hated all of my photos from this visit whereas my husband, who rarely ever takes a photo (if I want him to take a photo of me, I have to take a photo of him first so he can copy the same framing and angles), hit the nail on the head with this one. I am equal parts proud and fuming.
May
In September, we went on our first cruise with some great friends who are veteran cruisers. I wasn’t sure what to expect going into it but I had a wonderful time. I have always loved holidays where you go to multiple places in one trip so this was the perfect way to do that without having to spend a lot of time and energy on logistics - it felt like a sense of freedom I don’t remember experiencing before. It was also the first - and maybe only - time this year that I allowed myself to fully disconnect from work and it was a break that I really needed. One of the true joys in my life, much like my love of London, is losing myself in the life of European cities so discovering Ghent was really special. I had never been before but even though the weather was rainy, I really enjoyed discovering a new place. Plus, what’s not to like about a country that has incredible chocolate, mustard that blows your head off, sweet, delicate speculaas and fries with proper mayonnaise?
June
One of the best things about spending time on or near the water is the potential for a spectacular sunset. It is well documented, here on the Autumn Chronicles and in my life in general, that I am a sucker for a sunset and there are a fair few pictures of the sun making its descent in this collection. They are my favourite thing to photograph and the best way to reflect on all that has gone before. Standing on the deck of a ship, watching the sun sink towards the water and the striations of colour bringing lustre to the horizon brings me a feeling of immense peace. That feeling of peace is ultimately what I am searching for and what I want to retain in my everyday life. My goal for the next year is to further examine how I can live a slower, more intentional life and a sunset is the perfect symbolism to carry with me into this new decade. It represents leaving behind what no longer serves but with the cusp of a new dawn full of hope and anticipation. My wish for my 40s is that I am only just at the beginning of what can be achieved.
I’d love to know: what are you leaving behind as one year transitions to another?
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I love your idea of a calendar retrospective! Wonderful idea to remember and share those memories with loved ones.
Beautiful pictures! I especially liked Windsor Great Park. Those silhouettes against the sky, wow!
London has always been my absolute favourite city in the world. For many reasons, but being able to walk through a fascinating long, rich history with signs of it everywhere plus the modern buildings just next to them, London as an ever-changing, ever-evolving city with such a strong history, it never stops to enthrall me. It's been far too long since my last visit ...
I loved reading this and the photos all fit so well with what you wrote for each month. Like you, finding ways to live a slower and more intentional life is a priority for me as we move into 2025. I’ve let go of a lot this year and the space that has created feels both exciting and slightly scary! I want to fill that space wisely with things that truly matter to me. Thanks for a great post.
P.s. I have an early January birthday as well and feel exactly the same!