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Thursday, January 5, 2017

Welcome to 2017

Hello all! Welcome to a shiny brand new year! I hope your holidays were just how you wanted them to be and that the next year will bring you everything you wish for, or at least everything you need (not always the same thing after all).




Usually at the end of the year I do a bit of a recap on the past year and a forward look to the new one, but 2016 has pretty much left me exhausted and I am thoroughly done with it.
About a year ago I was full of ambitious plans and ideas and looking forward to working on all of them, but then...well...then life. You remember life right? That thing that happens while you're busy making other plans? Let's just say life happened a lot in the past year.

Things varied from stuff breaking down in my house, health issues, other people's health issues, people even dying, unexpected unpleasant surprises around every corner, tiny injuries, things going wrong with either me or people I care about, to stress about a neurotic new cat, a true cancer epidemic all around me and a lot of tiny little annoyances, grievances and setbacks of a more practical nature that in themselves were no big deal but they piled up sky high.. Let's just say this year started with my molar breaking off during my vacation and my diabetes getting out of control and ended with a leakage in my bathroom and Spooky having an injury in his eye that meant I had to take him on a nine hour round trip to the main land to see a vet the day before Christmas. And in between there was a lot more fun. And don't even get me started on national and international events! Sigh...2016, stop already!

Going into 2016 I chose the words 'Live Softly' as my theme, but life basically gave me a case of 'And The Hits Just Keep On Coming'. By July I was so done with things that I even took a blog and (mostly) art break for a whole month and at the end of the year I basically just didn't feel like making any plans at all. No themes, no word of the year, no nothing. And I am wonderfully okay with that.

Looking back on my blog, Instagram and Facebook and my own memories of course there was plenty of good stuff in 2016 and I don't look back on it as a horrible year, just a rather tiring and relentless one. In fact I think the one thing that keeps me going in general is my ability to see good and beauty around me and to keep my eyes open for those things. Photography and art are good ways to stay focused on the better things in life. Without them I would be lost. The journal helped me vent, my pattern drawings and morning art helped me meditate and calm down, my walks cleared my head, and good people made me laugh. I had some wonderful trips and vacations to get some perspective and I got so much sweet stuff in the mail (both snail and e-) from all of you. Thank you.

Still, for the next year I am plan free, and that is exactly what I need. I have quoted a Vonda Shepard song  (Maryland) in my journals regularly that I would like to quote here too:

I've been thinking 
 I've been thinking I've been thinking too much  
I just want to live now for a little while
and cast my dreams to the wind

That's basically it. I just want to live now for a little while and not set goals or intentions, make plans or have ambitions. I basically just need to let myself be. And strangely enough it's a very comforting thought to give myself permission to do this.  It basically comes down to just enjoying the things I enjoy doing and of course I will share them with you on the blog and social media, because sharing these things makes them visible to myself and I have a tendency to get lost in my thoughts sometimes and lose my way. If I do have any intentions it is to explore my own joy and enjoy my explorations. That's all, that's enough.

Wishing you all a wonderful and artsy 2017!