Awaken: Editor's Letter

Our Awaken issue has always been our issue about growth, new life, revitalization, and fresh starts. We love that this issue comes out in February, because we don’t believe that new beginnings are just for new years. You can start fresh when you’re 16 or 60—in January, or October, or halfway through the day today! That’s the beauty of it.

When we started thinking about this issue and how it would frame this year as a whole, we started thinking about how something new isn’t always… new. Sometimes it’s secondhand but new-to-you. Sometimes it’s rediscovering a place you’ve been many times before. Sometimes it’s seeing the same problem with a different perspective. But the kicker is… when it comes to new, you can’t just think about it. You’ve got to take action.

So this issue, our introduction to the year of the Good Southerners Bucket List, is the common thread of our 2023—our hope that alongside us, you’ll discover (and rediscover) the must-see, must-visit, must-do places all across the South. No more dreaming about vacations—we’re planning them. No more wishing we could learn a new skill—we’re learning it. No more writing endless lists of things we want to do—this is the year of checking things off. 

We’re so excited to check things off with you this year, starting with our Good Southerner’s Bucket List—a special promotion of our favorite can’t-miss destinations in the South on p 34. We’re making a realistic list of tidying tips (p 80) and checking those off too! Then go ahead and make your grocery list so you can check off all the things you need to make the perfect spring flatbread on p 96. Check. Check. Check.

And once you read this entire issue? Well, you can check that off your list too.

With love,

The Good Grit Team