Seasons of Change, Part IV: 2024 — The Paradox of Becoming
A Steadier Foundation
By 2024, the foundation I had worked so hard to rebuild finally began to steady beneath me, and new layers of growth started to take shape.
Professionally, I was no longer just learning Account-Based Marketing; I was thriving in it. The work demanded strategy, creativity, and leadership, and it gave me space to think bigger than I ever had before. It was a year of sharpening skills, building confidence, and realizing that my career could be more than a job — it could be a place to lead, collaborate, and make meaningful impact.
Letting Go to Grow
Personally, I began peeling back even more layers of fear and control, learning to release what no longer served me. I spent significant time in therapy, working through the complexities of high-conflict co-parenting, emotional abuse, trauma, and the lingering aftermath of divorce. It was intense, uncomfortable, and necessary. Each session felt like another layer coming off - exposing truth, vulnerability, and the strength that had been buried beneath years of survival.
An Unexpected Turn
What I didn’t expect was that life would bring me a partner with whom I felt safe…truly safe. Someone whose drive, work ethic, and communication style mirrored mine in ways I hadn’t thought possible.
What started as a date I almost didn’t take. - the one date where I was literally yelling at myself in the parking lot for going. But it became a turning point. That moment led to a relationship that changed the trajectory of my life and my daughters’ lives in ways I wasn’t prepared for, but desperately and unknowingly needed.
New Love, New Challenges
But with new love also came new challenges.
Early in the relationship, I began facing nearly bi-weekly false allegations from a co-parent who was not happy with who I am. These were accusations over things as trivial as simply existing, breathing, or being kind. The intention seemed to be to fuel misunderstanding, chaos, and fear instead of kindness, maturity, or any acceptance that life moves on.
What started as isolated friction quickly grew into a pattern of conflict that pulled me into situations I never imagined or ever wanted to navigate. I worked hard to establish firm boundaries and healthy communication patterns for myself and to protect the other young humans involved. By the end of the year, I felt frayed, even after opting out of direct involvement.
Because even when the conflict was not coming directly to me, it was still reaching me indirectly, often through young humans who should never have been involved.
Protecting Peace at All Costs
For years, I had carefully curated my life and my circle to protect my peace, to surround myself with people who encouraged, not judged. Yet suddenly, I was thrust back into complex, chaotic circumstances that tested every boundary I had built. I had to find new ways to protect myself, my children, and everyone involved, all while holding tight to the calm and safety I had worked so hard to create.
The Paradox of Becoming
2024 was a paradox. A year of deep love, new beginnings, and professional growth, but also a year of painful reminders that peace sometimes requires sharper boundaries, stronger advocacy, and the courage to confront conflict head-on. It was the year I learned that becoming isn’t just about blooming. It’s also about pruning what threatens your growth.
Next in the series: Seasons of Change, 2025: Owning My Story
