My 2023 In Review
It was supposed to be a great year.
I had quit my job and decided to go in on my UX Design Agency startup. I had about 6–7 months of savings to fall back on just in case.
We had a client already on deck as well as some other prospectives. I was plunging headfirst into this new reality.
But by February, the mood was set for the rest of the year.
My uncle passed away from cancer sometime in February. He had been receiving treatment, but life had other plans. It wasn’t a great time for everyone.
A couple of weeks later, I got into a car accident. It could have been worse but thankfully, my reaction time was on point (and so were my brakes!)
The adrenaline rush from a near accident is almost indescribable. Your brain does a great job of masking to protect you from trauma. It was only February but everything seemed to keep going downhill.
Then it kept getting worse. Some of our prospective clients we were supposed to be work with decided to pull out.
So now we had no projects on deck and had to build back up our client list.
Prior to 2023, I had launched a new website called “Labari Magazine”. It was supposed to focus on society, politics and women in the African context. But it was a lot of work. Calls for collaborations didn’t pan out and the workload was killing me. So in the end, I shuttered it.
Just Survive
For the rest of the year, I was in “survival” mode. Constantly looking for opportunities, while trying to manage my mental health in a bad economy with escalating prices.
I was burning through my savings at a rapid rate with not much coming in.
Honestly, everything from March to December is nothing more than a blur.
I detached. My mental state deteriorated, and I honestly don’t think I can relate to my friends as I did in my past.
Paranoia also seeped in, and my sleep was awful. Oh plus, I think I might be on the spectrum.
We Are Still Here
But all in all, despite all the negative stuff and the downward spiral of 2023, I’m still thankful I have the ability to write this.
My parent’s health hasn’t been great but they’re still in great shape.
2023 partial broke me. But the cracks are healing slowly.
I have no idea 2024 looks like. I hope I’m still around. If I’m not, I’m thankful to have been able to make it so far.
