I never quite believed in the believer’s saying “Everything happens for a reason.” I also outgrew the belief that God answered all our prayers eventually. I knew God wasn’t a support desk or a wish-granting genie.

I didn’t expect to one day find an alternative phenomenon: synchronicity. Known by many other names and definitions (meaningful or psychic coincidence, Law of Attraction and Manifestation, acausal connection), it simply means the Universe coming together in your favor. As Paulo Coelho famously put in his book The Alchemist,

…when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

The Universe came through for me quite well the past few months — or past year — in ways I haven’t been appreciating enough. Opportunities knock and I open up, people say hello and I invite them in. The strangest part is that it never feels out-of-place. It always feels so present, like a wave in the natural ebb and flow of living.

I thought I owed you a summary of how last year went, especially after I deserted this blog. But in retrospect, I enjoy how 2016 slipped away, uncelebrated but also unmourned. Simply and peacefully gone. This isn’t to say that 2016 was a bad year I was happy to be done with; it was a great year on many, many counts and I’m so happy it happened. I just want it to have the quiet, unceremonious burial it likely wanted.

Instead, I can tell you my hopes for 2017. A quick new agey lesson: numerology is the practice of deriving meaning in numbers by adding up the digits in a date or sequence. To illustrate, this year adds up to 1 (2+0+1+7 = 10, and 1+0 = 1). That means it’s the beginning of a new cycle.

For that reason, among many others, I decided that this year would be about roots.

My goals for 2017 involve a lot of new beginnings or freedom to play around. They also have me seeking stability and building foundations. There’s a lot going to happen this year that I will not foresee and which I’ll have no control over. What I do have is time to be ready and strong for when things happen. When the storm comes through, I will be shaken but not uprooted.

My goals, therefore, are simple.

1. Attend three workshops for the whole year (which I accomplished last year and super enjoyed).
2. Pay off all debts, save a healthy amount per month, and become financially stable — if not independent.
3. Create three passion projects this whole year.
4. Exercise regularly: weekly at first, then daily when I can.
5. Reconnect with my mental health practices like meditation, reiki, journaling, and art.

If you also read last year’s goals, you’ll notice that they’re less complex, less specific and less strict this time around. Establishing roots means giving myself growing room to make mistakes, to change and adapt, and to value intent over law in the end.

So, there. Last year was all sorts of heartbreaking and happy, and it ended far, far away from what I imagined. I can only expect this year to bring me something similar in all different ways. I’ll welcome it all the same. One month in and I think I’ve already summoned the strength and grace to be at peace with whatever comes my way this year. One month in and I’m already full of hope and gratitude.