New Year, New Moments (Not Sports Related)

Patty V • December 31, 2022

This is a subtitle for your new post

Forgive me in advance, there are no sports discussed in this article.


What is it that brings you happiness?


As we head into a New Year, we all (hopefully) have hopes and dreams, goals that we would love to accomplish. Most people take the change in a calendar year to plan for their future. They look towards how they can better themselves.


For me, I take the change in the year as an opportunity to reflect. The last few years have been extremely challenging for many folks. Politics, health, crime, heck, even sports misery can factor in to why folks look to plan for a better tomorrow. If you're anything like me though, you live in the moment. You feel in the moment. After the moment has passed, you quickly move on to the next thing. I am constantly trying to better myself, so resolutions for me are non existent.


As I reflect, it allows me the opportunity to look at how I've grown through the year, and how I can better focus heading into the next chapter of life. Im aging. We all are. How do I continue to grow whilst managing day to day life?


There's a book that I'm very fond of. It's called "Power of Moments" by Chip and Dan Heath. Essentially this book discusses how small moments in life carry an immense amount of power. It's why when we take vacations we remember the highs and forget the lows. One defining moment is both memorable and meaningful.


In 2022 I faced many things. For me, 2022 represented more change than I have seen in recent history. I experienced every spectrum of emotion, and somehow have had to manage those emotions, channeling them into a better life for my loved ones. I got married, we moved into a new house, created many great new memories as a family, grew closer with friends, changed jobs, learned crafts, built things, and joined on as a writer/podcaster with The Kneaux. I also lost though. I lost one of my dearest loved ones. He was special, and left one of the largest impacts on my life that anyone has.


In dealing with this loss, it has made me wonder how I can overcome the hurt. How do you overcome the pain of loss? For me, I am an eternal optimist. With this, I go back to that book I discussed, "Power of Moments". This book states that there are five things you can do to find great good in great suffering. They are: Look for small peaks, celebrate and honor relationships, acknowledge your strength, identify new possibilities, and look for spiritual insight.


Now you may be wondering, "Patty, why are you sharing this junk, what does this have to do with resolutions or 2023?" My answer to you, is that I suggest as you look towards 2023, and you look for resolutions or changes, incorporate those 5 recommendations into your daily life. Everyone wants to lose weight, or stop drinking, and those things certainly matter. However, I implore everyone to make their 2023 memorable, make it matter, that way when you look back at the end of next year you're not wondering why you couldn't stick to your resolution, but you look back fondly of all of the memories made.


Expanding on this more, a little more sideways, go create moments. Go live, respectfully, full of love. Create happiness in the dark. Be the beacon of light for others who need it. I am so thankful for the memories I've made this past year.


May your 2023 be blessed with happiness, wealth, and health.


All the love in the world,



Patty


Follow Patty V on Twitter.


A quick share helps us a lot!

By Greyson Jenkins January 4, 2026
New Orleans Saints 17 - 19 Atlanta Falcons The Saints' season is officially over. As sad as it is to say that, this season ended on a much more positive note than I expected, and has me actually looking forward to the offseason, not dreading it. The defense finished on a positive note, Tyler Shough is definitely the guy for at least the next few seasons, and Kellen Moore improved over the second half of the year. If the season finished how we expected prior to Shough saving the team, this offseason would be much more bleak in appearance. This is supposed to be a week 18 recap, but why recap a game no one really had any expectations for or cared about? No one, not even us Saints fans or analysts, really expected Shough to be able to do much with this offensive group, and he couldn’t really. Sure, he made a few really good plays, but you could tell Kellen Moore was struggling to find plays that he felt confident running with the receivers, and I don’t view that as a negative, just a bad scenario for everyone. Because of this, I am not going to write this really as a week 18 recap, but more as a short preview of this offseason. Chase Young Chase Young has made it clear that he is the best young player on this Saints team. Maybe you could swap him out with Chris Olave, but I struggle to overlook his incredible performances and constant clutch play in big moments to close out the year. He finished this game with one and a half sacks and three tackles for losses, but should have even had one more sack and a forced fumble on his stat sheet. Mickey Loomis seemingly has gotten away with the deal of a lifetime, sorry Loomis haters, by signing Young to a three-year deal for only $17 million per year on average. That is more than $10 million less than what the top 10 defensive end salaries are on a per-year basis, and Young has 10 sacks in 12 games played. While watching this one, I texted my buddies and said that Young is a top 10 EDGE in the league at this point, but they disagree. Although he may not be right now, Chase Young is quickly improving and becoming what everyone expected him to be when he came into the league. If he continues down this path, it would be extremely reasonable for him to try and get a pay raise after next season. Going into this offseason, the Saints must add at least one other piece to the defensive end rotation, so teams are forced to take their focus off of Young and open up the opportunity for even more plays by him. Tyler Shough Tyler Shough did not by any means have a perfect game; he finished 23 of 39 for 259 yards and a touchdown and an interception. However, as I said earlier, I don’t think anyone expected him to with the weapons at his disposal. He led the team down the field multiple times, and a Charlie Smyth missed field goal, and Dante Pettis offensive pass interference made this game appear worse offensively than it was. He made some throws and plays out of scheme that once again added to the current mindset that he is the team’s future, so I am not worried about the interception that came late in the fourth quarter on the tenth or so double slant pattern of the game. However, I will say that Shough’s ability to make things work at times with this battered of a weapon room is impressive in itself, and means that if the team decides to go and get him weapons in the draft or free agency, he can be even more successful. I’d really like the Saints to leave the draft with one of the following: Jeremiyah Love, Jordyn Tyson, Makai Lemon, or Elijah Sarratt. If they do that, I think this offense alongside Shough would be extremely fun to watch next season. The Defense The Saints' defense finished the season without allowing a fourth-quarter touchdown since Week 11 against the Falcons. Yes, week 11. Although I felt the defense started off pretty rough, the second half of the season was a true testament to Brandon Staley’s abilities as a defensive coordinator. The Saints' defense improved this season in both total scoring and yardage allowed in comparison to last season, at 17th and 9th, respectively, before this game. They played another great game here with what should have been two turnovers if it weren’t for a bad call by the refs on the Chase Young strip-sack. Quincy Riley and Jonas Sanker both have been massive additions to this side of the ball, and Danny Stutsman appears to have the potential to be good whenever Werner or Davis leave. If the Saints decide to run it back with this same defense and bring back the vets, it would not be the worst thing in the world, but I would still like to see them bring in more young talent. Closing Time This season was my first writing for the team, and I really enjoyed recapping all of the highs and lows of the season and trying to let you guys know exactly how I felt about the team week in, week out. As much as I hate this team missing the playoffs and the season ending today, I’m happy I had this opportunity and look forward to doing the same next season. I may write a few offseason articles, but if not, I will definitely have a few Saints-focused episodes on my YouTube channel, Jenks Island. Until next time, Who Dat!! Offensive MVP: Tyler Shough Defensive MVP: Chase Young Special Teams MVP: NONE (Please fire Phil Galiano)
By Caleb Yaccarino January 3, 2026
The final game of the season is here!
Show More