Heal & Grow with Nickie
Join your host, Nickie Kromminga Hill, and her guests on a journey of personal stories and insights into healing and growth from past and current trauma. The focus is on fostering true connections through conversations centered around vulnerability and authenticity. The goal is to collectively heal and find opportunities for growth, promoting a sense of togetherness.
Heal & Grow with Nickie
47: Happy New Year!
Ever felt the need for a fresh start but didn't know when or how to begin? Join me, as I share my story of celebrating a midyear "Happy New Year" on June 20th, aligned with the summer solstice. This new beginning is my way of reducing stress and refocusing on the things that truly bring me joy, like podcasting, writing, and painting. Hear about my bold decision to go part-time at my job to make room for these passions and the meaningful experience of being a speaker at the Sisterhood Summit. This episode is all about renewal and growth, and I'm excited to take you along on this journey.
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Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal health or professional advice.
Nickie is not responsible for any losses, damages, or liabilities that may arise from the use of this podcast.
This podcast is not intended to replace professional medical advice.
Have you ever needed a life do-over? Yeah, me too, and I just started one about a week ago. I called it my happy new year and I'm gonna tell you all about it in today's episode. Welcome to Heal and Grow with Nikki. I'm your host, nikki Kraminga-Hill. Here we talk about everything Grief, hope, illness, work, family, tragedy, possibilities, fun stuff and not so fun stuff. It's all on the table. Let's take a look at our lives and work to heal and grow together. I'm so glad you're here to heal and grow together. I'm so glad you're here.
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Speaker 1:Hello everybody, I've been missing for a few weeks. Again, I do that from time to time disappear and then reappear. This time I've just I've been working really hard on some renewal and tying up some loose ends here and there, and now I'm back, for now, until I disappear again. On Thursday, june 20th, I celebrated my second Happy New Year of the year, the first, of course, being January 1st, when we all celebrate. So, yes, on June 20th I decided I need to do over and Happy New Year to me this is the second half of 2024 or the first half of whatever goodness is going to come right now, but I just I needed a do over, so I decided to do a whole Happy New Year. I chose the 20th because it was the summer solstice and also I had a really awesome gig that day that I'm going to tell you about in just a couple of minutes. Really awesome gig that day that I'm going to tell you about in just a couple of minutes.
Speaker 1:I needed a do-over because I, the first half of this year, I've just been consistently and considerably stressed out and I have, you know, done the things to try to eliminate or reduce that stress and it just hasn't really worked and it's been a pretty frustrating first half of the year. Some of some of the things that have been frustrating are things that you already know about, because I've already shared, and some of the things that have been frustrating I haven't shared with you all, and I'm I'm still not going to, at least not now, because it's just not appropriate, but it's just been a really, really challenging time and I just I needed a refresh. I also really haven't been doing the things that I want to be doing, like podcasting, like writing, like painting, like seeing some friends, like seeing some friends. So my solution, or partial solution, to this problem, besides just giving myself a do over happy new year, is to go part time from my full time job. My full time job is actually two separate jobs mushed together into one job. So it was actually pretty easy to say, hey, I'm going to go part-time and this one job I'm not going to do anymore and this other job I am going to do and I start part-time in just a couple of days. And so I've been spending some time prepping for that. And if I've learned anything from my full-time job at Alive and Kickin, I've learned a lot and truly it's been an honor to work with this organization. But one thing that I've definitely learned from the cast members at Alive and Kickin is that if I want to do something with my life or in my life, the time to do that is now. Don't wait until you're 70, 80, 90. Do it now, while you have the time and the energy and the funds and all of that. And so that's another reason why I want to go part-time is just I need more time to do the things that I want to do.
Speaker 1:So so I decided on June 20th as my rebirth, renewal, happy New Year day and, as I said before, it was the summer solstice. But also it was kind of a big day for me because I had been asked several months ago to be a speaker at something called Sisterhood Summit, which is a part of the networking group in which I belong I've talked about it quite extensively Polka Dot Powerhouse. I was asked last fall if I would be a speaker at this summit. There were going to be three summits this summer. One was in Lancaster, pennsylvania, one was in Altoona, wisconsin, that's where I was, and then one is virtual in about a month or two, and it's a way for dots to get together. Besides our annual convention, which is called Celebration that I've also talked about in October, we have Celebration in October. So it's a way for us to all get together outside of our normal chapters, and it was a huge, huge honor to be asked to do this.
Speaker 1:The um president and CEO of polka dot powerhouse sent me a Facebook message one day hey, we're going to do this summit. I want you to be a speaker. Are you in? Hey, we're going to do this summit. I want you to be a speaker. Are you in? I was like yeah, for sure, I am yes, please, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. And she said great, hold on a couple of months. I'll give you more info. So the only info I had was that it was going to be a June 20th in Altoona, wisconsin, which is about an hour and a half away from where I live right now in the Twin Cities. Altoona is a suburb of Eau Claire and in about January or February I got my topic.
Speaker 1:I was told that I would be speaking on the topic of the power of welcoming others into your life, which I love. I love that. I love talking about welcoming people in and the difference between inviting and welcoming, and I've just been really excited about it and it's been on my calendar for months, so I decided. This is my happy new year day, no matter how this speaking engagement goes. This is the first day of an incredible time, an incredible life, and it really was a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful time. My talk went well. Just now, I sounded like maybe a question mark. It went well. No, it went well. I saw it just now. I sounded like maybe a question mark. It went well. No, it went well and I really enjoyed the subject. So usually when you're speaking you have your own subject that you talk about, and what I've been working on the past couple of months.
Speaker 1:My keynote is on empathy, so it was a little unusual to say we want you to talk about and what I've been working on the past couple of months. My keynote is on empathy, so it was a little unusual to say we want you to talk about this other thing and I loved crafting it, I loved working on it and I loved the performance for lack of better words aspect of it, and you know I forgot a bunch of stuff For this particular gig. They wanted no notes, which great, I shouldn't have notes but they also wanted no slides and I am used to working with slides, so that was just a little bit different. For me, it wasn't an issue, it was just a little bit different and it just different. For me, it wasn't an issue, it was just a little bit different and it just it went. It went well and I think I'm going to rework it. It was, it was very focused on the dots and I think that there's a way for me to rework the talk so that it would work for any organization, and so it was really fun to discover that. I met some new people and although I don't love meeting new people, I do like meeting them when they're in the dots. I don't know, I just if you're a dot, I just trust you right away.
Speaker 1:Mostly the attendees were from wisconsin, wasa, eau claire, madison. There were a couple that came in from the colorado area. There was a friend who came in from the boston area, so it was just a really nice day. Plus, I treated myself to two nights in a hotel, and I don't know if I've ever talked about this before, but I love staying in hotels. I think it's so much fun, so that was a bonus for me. Plus, the area in which we were located was just this really fun walkable area. It was just, it was really great, and I found a dollar in my pocket that day, so that's good luck to you.
Speaker 1:So what's happened since the 20th it's just been about 10 days is naturally, I have found myself falling into some pre-June 20th habits, mostly complaining and venting about things that I deserve to complain and vent about. However, the things that I've been complaining and venting about things that I deserve to complain and vent about, however, the things that I've been complaining and venting about for the past several months, are things that I don't really have any control over and I don't think that they're going to change. Therefore, if the situation's not going to change, I need to change how I deal with the situation change. I need to change how I deal with the situation. So when I have noticed myself falling into those patterns, I don't want to say I've been quickly able to reroute all of that, but I have said you know what? We don't need to think about that stuff anymore. It's taken care of. We're at a happy new year and I probably have that conversation with myself a handful of times every day, but it does make a difference. I'm like you know what that is old stuff? It's stuff that I talk about with my therapist so I can save all that venting and complaining until I see my therapist again but that's old stuff, until I see my therapist again, but that's old stuff. And that's been really helpful for me and for my mindset, especially because it's summer and I love summer and I really have been pretty grumbly so far this summer and I just don't want that for myself and I don't want that for my family and I don't want that for the people around me.
Speaker 1:The point of all of this is that I needed a do-over and so I took it. I actually planned it out in my calendar. This is the day that I'm having a do-over, and I'm choosing this day because it already has a lot of light and positivity surrounding it, even though I hadn't gotten to the day yet. And you, dear friend, you can have a do-over whenever you want to. We get to start over whenever we want to. We can take a moment to pause whenever we want to. Isn't that lovely? I just love that and, as someone who values renewal, I do it several times a year.
Speaker 1:You know, new Year's, my birthday and right around the end of the year are all big reflective times for me. Probably you as well. Also the time around my mom's death, which is February 6th, and the time around my mom's birth, which is August 26th. I get really reflective. And this year I decided to add June 20th. And you know what? My last 10 days have been pretty dang good, because I allowed myself the space and grace to say this isn't working, I don't like it. How do I get myself out of this? Fuck, I know I'll have a new holiday this year Dude 20th, do over day. Happy New Year day.
Speaker 1:Dear listener, if you need permission and I, you certainly don't need permission from me to do anything at all, you could just live your life, love. But if, for some reason, you need permission to have a do-over, I give you permission to have a do-over. If you are looking for a sign for renewal, this is your sign. I'm giving it to you right now. This is your sign. This is your permission to start over whenever you want to. Five, four, three, two, one. Happy New Year. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal, health or professional advice. I am not responsible for any losses, damages or liabilities that may arise from the use of this podcast. This podcast is not intended to replace professional medical advice.
