2016 – Looking Back and Moving Forward

so i haven’t done a ton of writing on the blog this year – i HAVE done a ton of writing though. as i look back on the year and look at what my goals were (Check it out here if you want to read the full post)

Listen more. To myself, to my little voice, to my soul and to others. I don’t need to speak as much as I do. I need to listen to what people are REALLY saying even when they don’t say the words.
Be open. To myself, to others, to experiences that I normally might say no to. Be open to whatever life brings in that moment.
Be aware. Aware of the moment – what is really happening and how to do the thing that feels right.
Patience. Small, tiny steps forward – small, tiny steps backwards. It’s the dance of life. Patience will bring me exactly where I need to be.
Love more. Express the love you feel for people more freely without fear

I realize that I have worked so hard at these and lived so fully this year. Without having a some ginormous goal in mind as I began 2016 – these vague, very open goals were scarier. There wasn’t some “easy” checklist available for me to complete or any linear approach to these. But goodness, 2016 was so full – so full of beauty, so full of love, so full of happiness, so full of growth.

And I did everything – EVERYTHING I wanted to do and so much more. And although this may be super boring for some people, it’s really nice for me to remember the big things that I did or experienced.

Travelled (a lot) : San Francisco, Hawaii, Portland Maine, Vermont, Chicago
Dated: Did the online dating thing and met incredibly interesting people that taught me a lot about who I want to be in a relationship and who I want to be in a relationship with
Created: I made more art this year than I ever have in my life
Daily Practice: meditated every day, wrote every day, made a print every day
Said No to things that didn’t feel right
Said Yes to things that felt wonderful
3 Huge Weddings: Cheryl, Lauren and My Brother all got married!
Grew more fully into who I want to be forever
Voted for a woman in an election
Got some help with major life goals that I’ve talked about doing, now I’m doing, not talking

2017 should be another year of growth – as every year, every day should be. And I’m setting up my life for the life I want to live – actions, small daily actions. And my goals from 2016 will carry on. There is no need to change them – listening is so key and being mindful of what I am hearing.

I bought this cool planner that has all these interesting questions and mind maps. I’ve been using it for 2 months and love it. I’ve managed to get things done that I’ve talked about doing for way too long. This was a first step.

I am doing “The Artist’s Way” book – morning pages and artist dates. More intentional practice into unearthing who I am supposed to be. I am going to continue my daily art making practice but moving into a daily collage rather than print. I am working my way through my belongings using the Marie Kondo method and really minimizing my things and organizing it all so I can use things and find the joy. I am minimizing my paper use in the house – I made cloth napkins and “paper less” towels for the kitchen. Making some hankies and some other cloth household things in order to minimize my paper use. I’m excited about this.

I am also making a commitment to myself. I need to commit to some movement – it helps my brain and my body. So I’m committing to a day of yoga, a day of strength and swimming and a run. It’s not too much – and I need to commit to myself.

As we begin another year that could have many very new, very controversial, very tumultuous events and energy spiraling around – I want to share some of my favorite moments (I also wanted to share all of my prints in a cool video, but apparently 365 images is too much for many of the free video/slideshow makers.)