The Year Everything Changed

What positive events have taken place in your life over the past year?

If you had told me a year ago that my life would flip like a coin—head-side hopeful, tail-side tumultuous—I would have laughed in disbelief. Back then, I was stuck in a cycle of sameness, skimming the surface of existence without diving deep. But the past year? It’s been nothing short of transformative. The kind of year where you stop scrolling and start living, where clichés like “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” stop being empty words and start feeling like your personal mantra.

Let me take you back to where it all started. I’d just lost my job—no dramatic storming out, no thrilling exit, just a polite email and a pitiful severance package. On paper, it seemed like a career-ending catastrophe. In reality? It was the push I didn’t know I needed. With nothing to tether me to a routine, I suddenly had the time and headspace to rediscover the person I’d buried under deadlines and corporate jargon.

First came the writing. I had dabbled in journaling before, jotting down random thoughts when life got messy, but now it became my lifeline. Pages turned into chapters, chapters into stories. Somewhere between pouring out my heart and re-reading my scribbles, I realized I was doing more than venting—I was healing.

One particular entry hit me hard. I had written about a fling with a man whose words and actions were as mismatched as socks on laundry day. It was a story of heartbreak, yes, but also one of resilience. As I wrote, I saw patterns emerge—the breadcrumbs I had followed, the boundaries I hadn’t set, the strength I had underestimated in myself. It wasn’t just a diary entry anymore; it was a lesson.

And then came the book. Diary of Clichés started as a quiet idea, a whisper in the back of my mind: What if my stories could help someone else? What if the laughter, the tears, the mistakes, and the triumphs I’d lived through could resonate with someone scrolling through their own messy timeline?

As I wrote, I didn’t shy away from the ugly parts—the heartbreaks, the failures, the moments when I felt like I was unraveling. But I also celebrated the beauty: the friendships that held me together, the joy of dancing alone in my kitchen, the strength I found in the small, ordinary victories.

But the transformation didn’t stop there. Somewhere along the way, I began to travel again—not just to physical places but within myself. I revisited dreams I had shelved for “later,” like hiking Upper Yosemite and camping under a star-drenched sky. I discovered the thrill of public speaking, turning my once-awkward pauses into moments of connection with an audience.

And oh, the books I devoured! Sylvia Plath’s poetry became a salve for my grief; Women Who Run with the Wolves awakened a wild, untamed part of me I had forgotten. I discovered the concept of bibliotherapy and started seeing books as companions, as mirrors, as guides.

The best part? These changes weren’t grand or dramatic. They were subtle, like the slow unfolding of a flower. A decision to write a chapter one day. A decision to say no the next. A thousand tiny choices that built a life I’m proud of.

So here I am, a year later, inviting you to join me on this journey. Diary of Clichés isn’t just my story; it’s a space for yours too. It’s about learning to embrace the messy, beautiful contradictions of life. It’s about finding meaning in the clichés we often roll our eyes at—because sometimes, they hold the deepest truths.

If you’ve ever felt stuck, if you’ve ever wondered if change is possible, if you’ve ever laughed at your own missteps and cried at your resilience, then this book is for you. Because if there’s one thing the past year has taught me, it’s this: life doesn’t wait for perfect moments. It happens in the chaos, the quiet, and the courage to keep going.

And now, as you turn the page, I hope you’ll find a piece of yourself in these stories. After all, isn’t that what a good diary is for?