Dr Stephanie Lipnicki, DACM, LAc

In the last few days of the year all I could think was, I AM SO OVER 2023.

I feel like life has been super hard ever since my surgeries in 2017. My body never fully recovered. I still deal with the debilitating BS that is endometriosis - flare ups, pain, having to watch everything I eat.

Dealing with all the jackasses that were renting in the building my office is in when I moved in.

Foolishly thinking 2020 was going to be MY YEAR (how many of us said that holy shit) because I finally realized I had reached the level of healing I was going to reach and that endometriosis DOES NOT GO AWAY from a hysterectomy (I knew this at my core but still hoped I was going to be different from everyone else).

Navigating the insane insurance changes that have gone on in NJ that have forced me to rethink my practice and go back to my initial instinct that in order to provide the care I want, I have to stay as far away from insurance as possible.

Bottom line - 2023 still wasn’t my year to get my shit together. I actually made NEGATIVE income in 2022 and I still haven’t finished my numbers for 2023. In truth, by the end of January I’ll have to decide whether or not to add back La Stone Massage and Esthetics into my practice and just go back to a combination of all of the above.

I lost 2 of my friends within the last 18 months. One a High School friend and the other a friend that I made when our children were in preschool together.

One I had messaged just weeks before her passing, the other was sick, but I didn’t realize just how sick.

I’ve been thinking about them both a lot lately.

One because my daughter is dancing with her daughter’s former ballet teacher. I thought that with my tiny dancer dancing closer to home I would have the chance to reconnect with her. 3 weeks after I reached out asking her about the ballet studio her daughter trained at, she was gone.

My other friend kept crossing my mind because her birthday was nearing. Christmas Eve. And she loved Nutcrackers so every time I see someone’s house with one, I think of her. And her children, spending their first Christmas without her. All the things they will miss out on. I miss her smile. I am so grateful for her listening ear during the years before realizing I couldn’t stay in a marriage that wasn’t really a marriage and was just me raising my kids by myself.

I made the decision to step away from something in my community that I became a part of because it brought joy to my life and there were people I enjoyed spending time with. After some time, probably the last year, it had come to feel like a burden. The people I joined to be with are no longer there. The people who remained did not feel pleasant to be around.

Much has happened in my life that makes me feel time is precious and those we spend our time with should make us feel like our energy is amplified- not that it is being sucked out of you.

If you know me, you know I try to be as creative as possible.

I was actually told that I brought no value to this organization, and I was asked to resign from this volunteer position.

At first I was hurt but then I was like, fuck this shit, there’s like a dozen other places I can put that energy, and with people who will appreciate and value my time, creativity, and energy.

As 2024 begins, ask yourself where you need to shift and change where you put your time, creativity, and energy.

These next few months of Winter are a time to reflect inward to prepare for the Spring. It is a time of reflection. A time to look at what you need to let go of this Winter to make room for the magical things that are to come.

And don’t let your energy be wasted in a place where you aren’t appreciated.

My word for 2024 is MAGIC. I want to make magic, be surrounded by magic, and I want magical things to happen in my life, for my family, and in my practice. I want to break through this shitty ass rut I have been stuck in and THRIVE!!!