~working hard at trying to find balance between work and yoga and friends
~coming off anti-anxiety medication and feeling the effects of crazy withdrawal, and then feeling things deeply in a way I haven't in years
~finding a new friend who was a gift to me, bringing ease and pleasure in a time of transition and struggle
~taking ski lessons with some girlfriends
~finding a niche in my yoga teaching that I love, that seemed to bring joy and ease to people's lives
~spending a week with a dear friend in Utah, and being reminded that joy and bliss and connection is all around, all the time. if we only get quiet enough to sense it
~paying off $40 000 in student loans, and having a party to celebrate!!!
~making the decision to leave a job that I was no longer happy in
~actually leaving that job
~camping and adventuring in beautiful Lake Placid
~spending 2 months in a yoga ashram, meditating, facing my demons, learning so much about so much
~spending 2 months living with my family of origin, feeling so much about so much
~getting to spend a whole lot of time with my beautiful niece, and falling absolutely in love with her
~coming back to my home in Ottawa, and feeling excited about this next chapter - whatever will it hold?!?!
~and at the end of this year, reconnecting with an old friend I haven't seen in 13 years. wow.
~~~being supported and encouraged and loved and held and known by such amazing, loving, wonderful, wise, kind, strong friends. oh my god, I am so grateful for my friends. I could name them all right now, but I fear I'd accidentally forget someone and hurt their feelings. I hope you know who you are. the ones who said "go for it. take the risk. follow your heart. you are wise. you can do it." and all the ones who I have tea with, coffee with, wine with. all the laughing, the crying, the talking, the learning, the playing. you are all, each of you, so precious to me. Thank you.
This past year has been one of tremendous learning. Of learning to let go. Of learning to laugh:) Of learning to weep. Of learning to breathe. Of learning to notice. Of learning to be. Of learning to soften. Of learning to accept. Of learning to say yes, and learning to say no.
I am grateful. for the beautiful people in my life. friends. family (many of whom are friends). fellow adventurers and seekers. playmates. my teachers. my therapist. my career counsellor. you all make such a difference in my life. my heart swells with love for you.
huh. I guess at the end of 2013, I know that I am loved. and I love. what a delightful thing to know. I am so frickin blessed!!!!
so I wish you all a wonderful last evening of 2013. and hold in my heart a desire for an upcoming year of delights, of learning, of love, of beauty, for myself and for each of you, dear readers. yet another year of new adventurers and rememberings of how wonderful and magical this life really is. enjoy each moment. be true to yourselves. love yourselves, and watch that love pour out of yourselves to others.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy. ~Max Ehrmann
thank you for reading and being with me this year!
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