2014 Highlights

2014 turned out to be a pretty fabulous year, and I'm actually a bit sad to see it end, which is rarely, if ever, the case. My goal for this year, as it is for each year, was to grow - emotionally, spiritually, intellectually -  and see the evidence of that growth in my life. I came closer this year to becoming the person I've always wanted to be, the best possible version of myself. To recap:

I wrote

I continued blogging for a second year and daily journaling for a third. As a bigger step, I joined a local writing group, met other aspiring writers, and forced myself to read my work at each monthly meeting.

I read

I pored through my usual hodgepodge of contemporary fiction (Stephen King, Barbara Kingsolver, Donna Tartt), self-help, biographies, and assorted memoirs, and also tossed in a few American classics (J.D. Salinger, Arthur Miller, and Tennessee Williams) to expand my literary education.

I learned

Reading Susan Cain's Quiet was one of the best and most important personal events of 2014. I finished the book with a new understanding of myself as a shy introvert who often struggles in a world of extroverts but who is not alone in that struggle. In fact, it's frequently the people you and I would least expect who also consider themselves introverts. There's nothing wrong with me, I learned this year, despite others telling me there was while growing up. 

I survived

Extreme winter weather was the top local news story in my neck of the woods, starting in January, continuing (on and off but mostly on) through the end of March, and picking up where it left off with approximately 88 inches of snowfall in three days during "Snowvember." I realize, of course, that snow and freezing temperatures come with my territory every winter, but this was the worst I can remember. (Just to put it in perspective, the college where I work, which never closes, closed five days this year (two consecutive days in January and three in Snowvember)!)

I traveled

How did I survive winter's onslaught with sanity (more or less) intact? I booked a series of summer getaways (to the Finger Lakes, Orlando, and the 1000 Islands) as the psychological boost I needed to slog through seemingly endless days of frigid temperatures and drive through snowy whiteouts day after day.

So, how can I possibly top all of this? Well, I have some plans, big plans, actually, for the new year, which I'll reveal in due time. But for now I'm content to bask in 2014's remaining afterglow.