2024: Breath & Balance

If there is one thing I have learned about myself in 2023, it is this: change takes time. It is easy to tell yourself that you are ready to refocus your life and build an expectation for those shifts to happen overnight. It is just as easy to fall back into old habits and get caught up in the least important things, forgetting to breathe, or to strive for the balance necessary for well-being.

A woman sitting cross legged on the ground looking out over the waters in Acadia — *Priya looking out over the waters from Cadillac Mountain at Acadia National Park in August 2023.*

Last January, my intention was clear, 2023 was going to be the year of service. I volunteered for the Posse Foundation, I took photographs at an event for 826DC, I stood as a poll greeter for primaries and the general elections, I continued my committee and board service to the National Council on Public History, and I threw myself into the hyperlocal service that comes from being the chair of my building’s activities committee. All were rewarding in their own way, but it became apparent that there was an imbalance, and the volume of expectations I had put on myself was not sustainable.

2023 was also about standing adjacent to grief.

From January to December, I watched friends and family struggle with profound losses of parents, siblings, grandparents, and friends. While I couldn’t always help, I sent them love, acknowledged their sadness, and was present when needed. Then, as the world faced and continues to face escalating global conflicts, I remembered the words of activist and faith leader Valerie Kaur who said, “Seeing no stranger begins in wonder. It is to look upon the face of anyone and choose to say: You are a part of me I do not yet know,” and so their grief, became my grief. Their loss, my loss.

But I needed a reminder to breathe, to balance the fear, the sadness, and the weight of grief, with the privilege of joy.

That joy, came from precious—in person, lest we take it for granted—time with my family, my friends, and my circles of community. In February, I traveled to India to sit with and be with my aunts, uncles, cousins, and my sole remaining grandmother. It was two weeks of unscheduled time for conversation, for gathering, for feeling, and for love.

A bustling store in Mumbai that sells sandwiches.

The orange orb of the sun peeking up as it rises from the waters near Pondicherry.

A rickshaw on the street under a tree blooming with purple flowers.

Images Clockwise: My favorite sandwich shop in Mumbai, a street view in Pondicherry, a sunrise in Pondicherry.

Back in the United States, my immediate family and I gathered in San Francisco, New Jersey, and New York City—culminating in an epic 80th birthday party for my father at the end of the year.

In the spring I spent time with my public history colleagues in Atlanta for the first time since 2019, reinvigorating my mind as well as my soul.

I took road trips to Longwood Gardens and returned to Williamsburg to see old friends as my advisor took a well earned retirement. At home, I attended plays and concerts, visited museums, and had meals with people who reminded me of all the good and kindness that still exists amidst the sorrow.

A glimpse of Beyond the Light at ARTECHOUSE. This installation used images from NASA to create a visual journey through space.

There were intertwined in all of this, personal moments of celebration. I finished my second children’s book From the Stars to the Moon—a love letter for my niece the emphasized the importance of laughter. I attended my first book fair. I found comfort in watercolor painting, and I wrote 50,000 words for a novel that I hope pushes some promises I made over a year ago forward.

I became, as my friend and I joked, a farmer. As we worked on our community garden plot, I learned the patience and care that comes with stepping away from screens and tending the soil.

These people, these personal joys, were the breath that brought the balance.

A view of a woman standing with her arms spread in front of four wheelbarrows of mulch. — Priya stands in front of four wheelbarrows of mulch at her community garden plot.

Vegetables in a plastic back on a box with scissors and basil next to it. — Priya stands in front of four wheelbarrows of mulch at her community garden plot.

It was a year filled with both sadness and laughter. My hope for a 2024 that is filled in equal measure with (the expected) difficulty and sought for light. I know that prioritizing both breath and balance will be necessary to make it through.

Pivot Point

I stand at the center. One foot
Planted firmly on one side of the board,
While the other is raised waiting to shift the scales.
My heart races forward, as I
Lower my leg, bearing down weight,
And we change shape—
From a diagonal to parallel to the ground—
An arc that we hope will come around.
Even as the future feels lost,
Not found.

I stand at the center, still. Both feet
Planted, a triangle that cannot be ignored.
The air that fills my lungs brings clarity,
Even as we stand at the edge of a
Singularity.
A black hole from which reality
Ignores the laws of gravity.
The air that leaves my lungs
Creates uncertainty,
A wobble, a catch—but not all is lost.
I shift and adjust. I lean forward, and then
Breathe in again.

As always below is my list of things I read, experienced, and wrote in 2023.

Priya with friends (and flowers). Clockwise from top left with AY at ARTECHOUSE’s Beyond the Light, with a remarkable group of friends and historians at NCPH’s annual meeting in Atlanta, with my college advisor James P. Whittenburg at his retirement with fellow “Whittenburg History Kids” Melissa and Julia, and a self portrait at Longwood Gardens.

2023 Book Census

A chart tracking the number of books and pages read in 2023. — *Charts in this section Courtesy of The StoryGraph.*

In 2023, I read a total of 135 books for a total of 27,966 pages and 687.37 hours. As in previous years I started out strong, lapsed in the summer months, and had final push in December (where I read/listened to a whopping 7000 pages).

Note: For those of you who are wondering, I have not touched a single book from the Year of Sanderson. I suspect a few of those will end up on my 2024 list.

The proportion of nonfiction to fiction remained largely the same as 2022 with 11% nonfiction, 89% fiction. Of those 39% were audio, 39% were digital, and 22% were print.
In terms of audio books I spent a lot of time with Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series. However, my favorite audio title was Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (which I paired with Patrick Radden Keefe’s Empire of Pain). Honorable mention to Carrie Soto is Back (I felt like I was listening to Tennis live!) and Thank You for Listening (which is just steamy and entertaining). I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention that I listened to Fourth Wing and Iron Flame as audio books—which was tough when I wanted to move quickly, but worth it because the dragon voices are really great.
This year I read 27 books that fall within the Romance/Rom Com/Light Fiction genre. I really enjoyed A Proposal they Can’t Refuse, Thank You for Listening, Beach Read, and Charm City Rocks.
I read 34 books that I categorized primarily as mysteries: Nine Liars, Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series (I’ve read two so far). Two newcomers to my list that I really enjoyed: Nina Simon’s Mother-Daughter Murder Night and my first book of the year The Last Party by Claire Mackintosh.
I read 29 in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Magical genre: I started listening to The Expanse series which was a lot of fun since the voices and the actors match ridiculously well. However, the best thing I read in this wide-ranging category was Babel, for its worldbuilding and imaginative complexity and commentary.

Like everyone in the world I picked up Rebecca Yarros tomes (Fourth Wing, Iron Flame) and for something that is firmly in the “Romantasy” genre it checked every box—if that is what you are looking for. I categorized both books here, because while the romance and sexiness was a big part of the book, I really (as I told many a friend) loved the dragons. Finally, The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi was refreshing and fun—reminding me that I will always be a big Shannon Chakraborty fan.
I read 19 titles in the YA/Kid Lit genre—Rick Riordan really knows how to tell a story! Early in the year I went on an Elizabeth Acevedo binge and can’t sing her praises enough as all three books I read (The Poet X, The Fire on High, and Clap When You Land) are masterclasses in storytelling. Naturally, I was a big fan of From the Stars to the Moon (since I wrote it!).
14 titles this year were nonfiction. Broken Horses Brandi Carlisle continued my tradition of listening to musical memoirs, Song of the Cell by Siddhartha Mukherjee was dense but also revealing, and some of Clint Smith’s incredible poetry in Above Ground took my breath away. I read a few books on writing that added a few strategies to my toolbox, and finally a shout out to Swapna Krishna’s cute Pocket Nature book Stargazing which made me excited to hit up a Dark Sky sanctuary in 2024.
In past years I have tried to track the number of authors of color and women authors that I read—this was a little harder as I didn’t want to make assumptions of an individuals race and gender. I will say that of the 89 authors I read, I estimate about 27% were authors of color and 85% were authors that were female presenting. Many of the books I read this year had LGBTQ+ themes intertwined as part of the narrative, but at different levels of prominence. In a lot of cases I read multiple books by the same author (with 21% of my books by Louise Penny, Rick Riordan, and Grace Burrowes). Finally, 49 of the 89 authors were new to me!

Top 10ish Books I Loved in 2023 (in no particular order, and I tried to aim for a mix of styles and genre’s)

Babel by R.F. Kuang
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver + Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe (I read these back-to-back and they really influenced my feelings about both books and how we tell stories).
Above Ground by Clint Smith
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
The Beautiful Mystery + How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny
Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan

Theatre

*The stage at the start of Here There are Blueberries.*

This year I attended a total of 21 theatrical productions. TWENTY ONE. Each show had stunning performances and exemplified the power of the medium and how it always pushes me to think about the world in which we live. Some were special in other ways: I attended Look Both Ways with my nieces, taking them on our first solo adventure to the Kennedy Center. While sitting through the short performance was a little tough for the kiddos, it was a special day with two humans I love very much.

But the two shows that I am still thinking as a historian, a storyteller, and a human being are The Jungle and Here there Are Blueberries. I wrote about them in the spring, and the lessons they shared are even more relevant today.

Performances that brought me joy? Fat Ham, & Juliet (Shakespeare + Pop Songs!), and As You Like It (featuring songs from the Beatles yay yay yay).

Worst song to have as an earworm? The Factory Girls from Parade.

Best after show experience? The fundraiser for Broadway Cares after Merrily We Roll Along where the little kid in the cast popped in during the auction prompting the audience to bid “a million dollars.”

Honorable Mention to the #ShakespeareEverywhere program which was a genius idea that prompted me to see six shows in four weeks (Fat Ham, Winter’s Tale, As You Like It, King Lear, and Romeo & Juliet + Millennium Stage program Bard + the Beat)

My Full 2023 Show List:
Broadway: Parade, & Juliet, Merrily We Roll Along
Studio Theatre: Fat Ham
Kennedy Center: Into the Woods, Romeo & Juliet, Moulin Rouge, 1776, Look Both Ways
Signature: Pacific Overtures, The Bridges of Madison County, Ragtime, King of the Yees
Shakespeare Theatre Company: The Jungle, Here there Are Blueberries, Macbeth in Stride, Evita, As You Like It, King Lear
Folger: The Winter’s Tale
Capital Fringe Festival: Brunch with the Boys

Exhibitions & Experiences

For those of you who read this post every year, will notice that I don’t have a section for music or podcasts, because unlike years past there wasn’t anything that I wanted to call out. What I decided to do instead was call out some of the best exhibitions and experiences—including concerts—I attended this year (in addition to the great theater I describe above).

A view of a fish peeking out in a gap between some wood in an aquarium.

A champagne bottle, a shirt, a fan, and some watermelon on a picnic blanket.

A view of a giant red and white fingerprint in the foreground and the Washington Monument in the background.

Clockwise from left: Fish at the Atlanta Aquarium, A picnic with some historians to hear Brandi Carlisle and others at Wolf Trap’s Out and About Festival, Wendy Red Star’s sculpture in Beyond Granite on the National Mall.

Every year there is an exhibition that just floors me. This year it was “Beyond Granite: Pulling Together” which was pulled together by a multitude of partners including Monument Lab, the National Capital Planning Commission, and the Trust for the National Mall.
Beyond the Light at ARTECHOUSE: I am not sure it is possible to describe this amazing partnership with NASA. I was at times swept away by the visuals we experienced, while at the same time delighted by the AR technology that this group is known for.
Bourbon & Bluegrass at President Linco l n’s Cottage: This is an event I have been trying to go to for years. This year the stars aligned and let me meet up with some old friends at one of my favorite sites in the city while sipping bourbon and listening to incredible live music.
Mubadala Citi DC Open: Where my friend Tim and I witnessed some bad audience behavior, great Tennis, and had the best poker face when a player almost got into a fight with some spectators (we were on tv!)
Taking a watercolor class at the Art League of Alexandria. Like gardening this really pushed me to look beyond technology for joy. I loved it so much that I am taking a seven week class in the coming year.
The Arlington Library Local Author Book Fair. This is the first event like this I have ever attended, and it was a lot of fun seeing friends and talking to others about my book.
Taking a long delayed hike along the Calvert Cliffs State Park with some of my current and former colleagues. It was cold, but how much fun was it to be with these incredible people once again.
Attending the Out and About Festival at Wolf Trap to see Brandi Carlisle with my Public History friends.
Experiencing one of my favorite artists in a new way at Mark Rothko: Paintings on Paper at the National Gallery of Art
Watching P!nk fly through the air at Nationals Park during her Summer Carnival Tour.

A view of the sun setting in Maine. — *Looking out over the water at Young’s Lobster Pound in Maine.*

Television/Movies

For the first time in my life, I did a terrible job in 2023 of tracking my television, which means I need to finally make the jump from an Excel spreadsheet to an app (I know!). While this list is a little incomplete here are the shows that resonated enough to make this list.

The Bear
Wheel of Time Season 2
Daisy Jones and the Six
The Way Home
Nancy Drew
Baratunde Thurston’s America Outdoors Season 2
Sex Education
Never Have I Ever (Final Season)
Derry Girls (Final Season)
Ahshoka

Honorable Mention: Percy Jackson + the 2023 Dr Who Specials + Padma Lakshmi’s last season of Top Chef

Movies: My movie watching was even more limited. I think I only saw 2 films in the theatre (I saw Barbie twice!). But here are five that brought unexpected joy.

Barbie
Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
The Marvels (the CATS!)
Red, White, and Royal Blue
Polite Society
A Biltmore Christmas (I know it’s a Hallmark Rom Com but it is an example of how the network is trying to shift things. Also, it featured Riker from Star Trek!)

A top down view of the red and yellow flower in Longwood Gardens. — *A close up of a yellow and red flower at Longwood Gardens.*

Writing

As you can see this was a strange year for writing.

While the majority of my published work came in the form of stories for work, I would be remiss if I didn’t include From the Stars to the Moon on here and the fact that I once again drafted 50,000 words as part of National Novel Writing Month. Not too shabby I guess. My favorite work pieces were the ones that pushed my creativity like Preserving the Threatt Filling Station on Route 66 (Google Arts + Culture), allowed me dig deep into a subject like Regeneration: The Haus of Glitter’s Intervention to Transform the Esek Hopkins House or the “Beyond Granite: Pulling Together” Brings Connection and Belonging to the National Mall, or when I let myself be playful as seen in Tempting Your Taste Buds with Historic Recipes Perfect for the Holiday Season and A Very Cozy, Place-Based, Winter Book List.

A view of some gnarled and intertwined trees in an archway in Colonial Williamsburg. — *Trees at the Governor’s Palace in Colonial Williamsburg.*

…this is what comes next

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