I can hardly believe it, but this is the 11th “Things I’ve Learned” post I’ve shared! I love these annual posts—they’re a fabulous way to reflect on the year that has passed and think about what I want to bring into the following year. I also love hearing about what you’ve learned in the comments ❤️
A long wool skirt layered over wool long johns is both elegant and warm!
You can disable the beeping on your microwave, dishwasher, and who knows how many other appliances that beep! You will need to dig up the manual to learn the precise random button combination to silence your devices, but holy moly is it ever worth it.
If it is after 5:30pm I am probably not going to have from-scratch soup for dinner tonight (unless I want to eat dinner at 9pm).
Some people will see where you are today and assume you’ve always been there. Conversely, it can be tempting to see where someone is today and assume they’ve always been there.
If you are determined to find betrayal in all your relationships, you will. It will make you miserable and destroy your relationships, and it’ll be your fault.
I needed to step back and do less. I probably still do.
You can use surprisingly low concentrations of emulsifiers successfully!
A messy, cluttered space hinders my productivity and mental clarity.
I have wavy hair! And you might, too 😄
Leaving my phone to charge overnight in the kitchen (rather than beside my bed) is a good idea.
Parkinson’s Law—the adage that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” (source)—is very true. At the start of 2022 I released two videos with partner blog posts every week. I now release one every week. That one post and video now takes as long to create as the two used to as I’m using that extra time to do everything better.
I can’t eat lots of cabbage anymore 😞
Not everyone knows what I know.
I’m so happy to be travelling again—I really missed it.
Always check the blankets section of thrift shops; you can find some amazing things there!
If you have a dual sink in your kitchen, an in-sink drying rack is AMAZING. Easy default drainage, you can rinse things right on the drying rack if you want to, and the sides of the sink help contain dubiously arranged piles of clean dishes so you don’t end up having a catastrophic lots & pans avalanche.
Just because it’s a screaming good deal at a thrift shop doesn’t mean I need it. Also… it’s usually a good idea to pop my head into a thrift shop if I’m near one, but it is essential to keep my standards high (is this really something I need?) so I don’t end up with a ton of stuff that was a good deal but never gets used or appreciated.
Framing & presenting information in a way where people will actually engage with it is more important than creating information-dense content.
I did not miss getting sick 🤧 Also, I am allowed to take sick days and the world/algorithms will not fall apart.
I love feeling physically strong and capable.
Tight scripting is really important to create high quality videos.
If I don’t consciously try to eat enough protein, I probably won’t.
I’m turning into my parents more and more every year.
You’ll never be sad to have a pair of earplugs on you.
Small tweaks and optimizations to my living space make me very happy.
Before buying a new version of something, make sure you’re using the version you currently have to its full capacity. This is especially true for technology.
The formulations I get lots of requests for are usually unpopular.
Sound effects are fun 😄
I switched to Notion from Evernote and wow. Notion is SO much more powerful and flexible than Evernote—and it’s free (for my needs)!
Learning & improving is really important to me—it’s a major source of fulfilment.
Taking a week off without any plans—a destination, activity, whatever—doesn’t feel that great.
I’ve switched to a convection toaster oven for most oven-y tasks and I love it—it’s faster and uses less energy.
Calendar blocking has become a really essential part of my workflow. Highly recommend.
It is a good idea to examine the assumptions you’ve built your life and identity on. “Is this true or have I just always been told that’s the way things are?”
Just because someone doesn’t share your opinions/world view doesn’t mean they haven’t “done their research”—and dismissively telling someone to do so is not helpful or kind.
Clear countertops feel fantastic.
Scan, digitally store, and immediately shred all possible paper things.
Electrolytes are fickle buttheads 🤪
Curiosity is a superpower.
Uncertainty is exhausting.
The k18 hair mask/treatment thing works really well (and they are not paying me to say that… though I would happily accept payment in product if they offered 😂).
Some books I read this year & enjoyed:
- Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience by Brené Brown
- Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
- The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
- I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jenette McCurdy
- Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell & Sherlock Holmes series
- The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber
- Louise Penny’s Three Pines/Chief Inspector Gamache series
- Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention–and How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari
Other “Things I Learned” posts:
- Things I Learned in 2012
- Things I Learned in 2013
- Things I Learned in 2014
- Things I Learned in 2015
- Things I Learned in 2016
- Things I Learned in 2017
- Things I Learned in 2018
- Things I Learned in 2019
- Things I Learned in 2020
- Things I Learned in 2021
What did you learn this year? ❤️
What do you mean when you say ‘the formulations I get lots of requests for are usually unpopular’ that doesn’t make sense to me.
It doesn’t really make sense to me, either, but it is true more often than not.
For example, I’ve received many requests for a body milk formulation, so I shared one this spring. It’s one of the least watched videos I shared this year. Or—I’ve had tons of requests for a matte cream lip colour. I shared one last year and more than a year after publishing, that video it has fewer views than a video I published 2.5 weeks ago.
I think it’s a bit of a “squeaky wheel” situation, where the comments I hear a lot are not actually representative of broad trends.
I also think some people are interested in making something until they learn how involved it is. I’ve definitely done this before—I was interested in making croissants until I learned how croissants are made and then decided I was fine to keep buying them LOL.
luv the croissant reference! 😉
also, great insights you shared Marie, for the past year! Very well written! thank you!
Thank you for sharing the things you’ve learned.
I had a crudy, abusive, childhood and I left home with just my old junkie carand my few belongings, but I was able to put myself through school and become a software engineer, and a technical librarian: things I learned
1. nobody owes you anything. Do it yourself
2. try to be positive in everything, even if it turns out bad,at least you had the fun of believing there is the pony under the… 3.always have a goal and write a two or three or four year plan on how to achieve it. 4 every year, if the opportunity presents itself, step out of your comfort zone and do something you’ve always wanted to do but you’re were too afraid to do, such as taking or teaching a Dale Carnegie class (No, this is not a bucket list. )
**Just because someone looks pretty and confidant and all “put together” does not mean that they had /have an easy life or a rich parents, or that life is going well for them at that time. **Try to be nice to everyone (except a stalker, et. al,) especially to the ones that other people turn their nose up to. **If something goes bad or happens to you, (like breaking your femur the day after you go in for hip surgery in the hospital), try to find something good that you’ve learned out of it and don’t complain because if you complain no one’s gonna want to come visit you. **Don’t minimize other peoples problems except when you are a single mother and can barely pay your mortgage and your secretary is crying because this is the first summer her family can’t go to Hawaii. (all that is pretty bad ) **you learn more from your failures than your success! especially learn who your friends are. ** My (salad days) were more fun than my comfortable days. **I never hang out with people who have more problems than your own.** I always check the oil in your car even if it is a Toyota or a Honda.** don’t be afraid of the person in class who asks the really stupid question. Your classmates will thank you later.
Sorry, this was so long. Happy new year.
Thank you for sharing, Holly ❤️ “You learn more from your failures than your success!”—so true! I say this a lot in respect to formulating, but it’s true in all of life. If you can dig into the “why” of that failure you can learn so much, and I find those lessons really ‘take’.
Wow! Interesting for odd reason. I’m an Evernote user and I’ve never heard of Notion. When I went looking up about that I discovered there’s a whole bunch of note taking Apps I’ve never heard of. So thank you for that. Even though it has nothing to do with soap.
Yes, there are SO many! I’ve been looking for a serviceable Evernote alternative ever since they discontinued tabs in the desktop app, and I’ve finally found one. I will continue using Evernote for scanning paper documents since Notion cannot yet search text inside images, but that’s about it.
My favourite thing about Notion so far that Evernote just doesn’t have is excellent sorting and hierarchy. No more plans in one document/notebook, scripts in another, notes in a third. Notion lets you nest and organize! I now have a database of post and formulation ideas that can be clicked into and expanded. When I decide I want to put something on my publishing calendar I simply add a date and it pops up on my calendar—with all the notes, plans, etc. still readily accessible. Hooray!
I’ve just recently discovered Notion as well and, like you, my first response was “Wow”! It’s far more powerful than I ever would have thought. I love it and I doubt that I’ll ever be able to use it to its full potential.
Hello Marie! I have been watching your YouTube videos and reading your blog for just over a year. I can’t even recall how I first stumbled across you! I think it was because I was making a pain relief salve using cannabis- kind of as an experiment. I gave away the salves I made and many people I gave to, wanted to purchase from me. But when I began to learn about formulating, I realized how little I knew! I had only made anhydrous salve formulations that didn’t need preservation, so I am damned lucky I didn’t make someone sick!
All of this aside, I love your videos and blog! You are a natural and aren’t afraid to share your mistakes and the things you learned along the way. Your videos are rich in content, beautifully presented, and are backed up by your fact-filled partner blog posts. I have learned so much from you and your fresh and entertaining presentations. You are a true professional, but you are sweet, confident, possess so much knowledge and are so happy to share.
When I can, I will be visiting your patreon and adding to it. Stay fresh and sweet and may positive energy continue to flow your way. And THANK YOU for all of your hard work. I so very much appreciate all you do!!
Hi everybody,
I’ve learned that you have to do what you want to do right away. ‘Later’ does not exist in life. I know, living in ‘the now’ is a lofty cliché, but I can’t help but realize that this is an important truth. A very good friend was given his death sentence: he was told that he had terminal cancer and had only four months to live. After that initial shock I realized that he – like me – had put off a lot to do ‘later’. I didn’t dare ask if he regretted this. So: take courage, and just do things.
Happy New Year!
Hi Marie! I love reading your insights about the past year.
2022 has been for me a very difficult year (first time living completelly by myself after closing a very long relationship), but also a year of a lot of personal growth.
Here are some things I’ve learnt:
– Making friends, even in your (very) late 30’s is less difficult than we think. There are good people around the corner that might be in a situation simmilar to yours, or willing to ‘adopt’ you.
– I’m way stronger than I thought I was
– People that love you will support you in your choices, no matter how crazy they might sound
– Happiness will happen again, even if you are so heartbroken that it seems impossible
– You need to seek help when things get overwhelming. Mental wellbeing needs to be a priority
– Don’t be afraid to show and share your feelings. You will feel vulnerable, but also heard, supported and less alone
– Don’t be afraid to step on a path that shakes all the beliefs you’ve had so far
– I eat way less than before, and it’s surprisingly enough
– Living alone is actually quite good, specially not sharing a bathroom and not sleeping with a snoring person
Happy 2023!
Marie,
Totally agree with the counter top oven, I live in AZ where temps are 110+ so that is a must. Phone charging in the kitchen for me started years ago..now I can actually get some sleep.
Political or world view: I have learned to see people for who they are as people, not for their religion, orientation, political views, etc. And when asked about my political views I usually respond with “neither party is for ‘we the people’s so I choose not to get involved in politics ‘ and that has a surprising good response. I’ve learned to rise above and focus on what’s REALLY important. And more importantly, what seems to be important to the masses but is a distinct waste of time,energy and emotional health. Happy new year to you.
Lin
Hi! I just want to say that I only discovered this blog (and my passion for creating skincare products) a few months ago, but I am utterly inspired by all of your doings and sharings! Thank you for creating such enriching content — it has sparked something for me, and I am utilizing your teachings as I start a small business of my own.
PS. I too love Brene Brown and Crawdads — and I actually picked up Delia Owens when I was an Uber driver in Asheville, NC! 🙂
For whatever reason, I read over this list again today. What a great exercise to do every year, as we don’t always give ourselves credit for our growth.
I missed this one on the first read — 100% agree with Marie!!!
Electrolytes are fickle buttheads