It seems to be globally accepted that 2016 has been a pretty terrible year. Since I originally created this blog as a place to gripe about things, it seems natural to me to write a long post about how terrible this year was for me. However, I feel a little beaten down by the year and am exhausted from thinking and talking about the negatives. So, in an effort to step away from my own experience with terrible 2016, I decided to look back through my calendar for the year with a specific focus:
I was looking for evidence of fun stuff I did this year, the good things, the laughs. The good news is that I found some! I traveled more this year than ever before and the vast majority of that travel was work-related so it's easy for me to just think of the year in terms of numbers: the number of flights, trains, hotels, etc. However, before I get into those numbers, I want to highlight some of the good things I found in my calendar for this year:
I saw whales! Lots of whales. I went whale watching twice this year. Once off the coast of California with one of my dearest, oldest friends from childhood and his entire family. On that trip, I got to experience the fairly rare joy of seeing not one but two blue whales. The other whale watching experience was of the coast of Iceland, which, I mean.... Iceland! So there's that! I spent my birthday on a boat in the North Atlantic watching so many minke whales (or "minky whales" as my Icelandic guide called them) play and feed. I also saw humpback whales, dolphins, porpoises, sea lions, puffin, and any number of other sea life.
I had visitors from all over the world this year. I love introducing people I care about to my neighborhood, my life. Showing dear ones the beauty, diversity, and vibrancy of Oakland always gives me a chance to dig in an appreciate this place I call home. In life we tend to take the things we see and experience regularly for granted and this year I had several opportunities to take a deep breath and fall in love with my home again and again.
I got to experience things I've never experienced before. I went to Iceland. I went to China. Both places I've never seen before and both of which deserve their own blog post at another time. I went on a Thelma & Louise road trip across a good portion of the U.S. where I accidentally mooned some unsuspecting Utahans, explored a national park, survived "the loneliest highway" in America, and ordered entirely too much food from room service. Our Thelma & Louise road trip eventually culminated in an alternate ending you don't get to see in the movie: when they drive off of that cliff in Utah, they land on a beach in Mexico in case you didn't know.
I got to spend time with so many people I care about deeply, people I've known for decades and am so thrilled to have in my life, people I don't see often enough. I got to spend time with family. I got to help celebrate milestone birthdays: my grandfather's 90th birthday, my mother's 65th, my childhood best friend's 40th. I got to spend time with my sister and my nieces and nephew. I learned new things and taught old things to new people. I made new friends, and reconnected with old ones.
I didn't take much time to take care of myself this year but I've decided that's perfectly okay sometimes too because I still learned a lot about myself. I learned that sometimes putting my own needs first is the right thing to do. I learned that I am strong and confident and even when I'm not, I can fake it until I make it most days. I learned that I am proud of myself, my integrity, who I am, and how I treat others. I learned that I have a lot to learn and I found renewed clarity on where I want to focus that learning, or some of it anyway.
I traveled. So much. The vast majority of my travel was work-related this year. Some people think that traveling for work is glamorous and fun but mostly it's just work. I did, however, get to do some travel that was not for work this year. I experienced, Iceland. I experienced a tiny piece of China, which means I've now been to an additional continent. I went on a road trip, and I visited friends and family.
I mentioned numbers earlier and since I'm a numbers kind of girl, here they are:
This year I boarded 83 planes and 21 trains. I stayed in 27 hotels. I went to 3 continents, 5 countries, and 9 U.S. states. I explored at least 1 national part, several state parks, went on 2 whale watching boat trips.
Anyway, even though the overwhelming feeling is that 2016 sucked, I'm glad I took a look back at the year with an eye toward the positive.
Lets see what 2017 brings. I'm ready, I think.
