January (and December, really) are often a time for looking back in order to look forward. So, let’s look back at 2011, shall we?
January
The year began (and will, as you will see, come full circle) with a focus on vulnerability and whole-heartedness. I was attempting (read: failing) to date via Craigslist again. I was working very temporarily in a corporate marketing department and wholeheartedly devoting myself to building my fledgling business on the side. I was reading books about how we, as humans, do and/or should live. And I was pouring energy into the study of body language, inspired by Lie To Me. And…
In February…
The trend continued. I launched my business’ new website and continued to gather up new clients. But I also hit a little personal snag–in the form of one unexpectedly vicious dog belonging to my roommate: a dog that made me feel that Luna and I were no longer safe in our home. This is when the frustrated search for new lodging began, bringing with it mustard-yellow countertops (why, people?), missing kitchen cabinets, relentlessly barking neighborhood dogs and a serious lack of bathtubs.
March
Finally, in March, I found a new place to live: a tiny cottage in a central part of town. I signed a lease and prepared to move in April 1. Things were starting to look up.
And when I say “things,” I mean not just the house hunting. I mean that I picked up another big client and I fell in love with a cracked pepper steak and I went to the ballet and walked a 5K and prepared to quit my day job.
April
So began the month of changes–changes I’d been longing for. I moved into the tiny cottage and quit my job. And I was able to get back to some of the things I love. Things I hadn’t had time for, with a full-time job and a growing business and a house-hunt all going on. The biggest of these things was food. I started cooking again, paying attention to ingredients, eating on my new patio and enjoying every bite.
May
After all the happy changes of April, it only makes sense that I felt like pontificating and celebrating and so forth in May. So I wrote a manifesto and published some other manifestos and drove out to Estes Park for a snowy wedding. I was also still focused on building my business, which was why I volunteered at the most fabulous of content strategy conferences out in Minneapolis (a feat I fully intend to duplicate in 2012), making some friends and picking up some new clients along the way.
June
In June, a slight rain began to fall on my parade in the form of Hateful, Evil Moths, which kept me up at night and dive bombed me and the dog throughout the day while I attempted to write things and read things and so forth. They sucked.
The parade raining continued in the form of the death of one of my aunt’s beloved horses, some negative people in my life and a barfing Luna. But at least it was sunny outside and I bought myself plush, new towels in crimson.
In July…
The moths were replaced by spiders–spiders, I might add, that really, really liked to hang out in my bed. Not on my bed. Not above my bed. IN MY BED. It was super cool. I was starting to feel like the tiny cottage might not have been such a great deal after all.
July was also when I started fantasizing about leaving Denver. Because summer was much hotter and wetter and more buggy than I remembered or liked. And maybe summer somewhere (Tahoe? Seattle? Vancouver?) else would be better.
And, August
After reading French Women Don’t Get Fat and watching endless episodes of What Not To Wear, August became a turning point for my closet. I tossed at least half of my closet (and was left with, strangely enough, about three blue skirts and a pair of sweatpants) and began shopping–something I hadn’t really done in years. It was fun and liberating and I found that dressing better also meant (to some extent) feeling better. Holes in your clothes eventually start to make you feel bad about yourself. Who knew?
In August, I also finished the crazy big re-write of my book, briefly entertained the idea of kissing a scruffy friend of Pookie the Raven’s and threw my annual naked lady party.
September
Ah, the month of my birth. It all started with a new haircut and color, which certainly helped with the wardrobe transformation I’d already begun. I continued said transforming by starting to buy up replacement items for my wardrobe, fixing my favorite necklaces (which had been broken for years) and making a long list of things that I wanted and/or needed in order to not walk around naked (though, come to think of it, perhaps that would be a good getting-new-business and getting-new-boyfriend strategy).
Unfortunately, the end of August/early September was also when Luna almost kicked the bucket due to a yellow jacket sting on her face. Apparently, she is highly allergic. This makes me feel stressed during the warmer months.
And, September was also when I decided that next summer I’d like to go to Europe. Why settle for America if you don’t have to, I asked?
October
In October, daydreaming about Europe, I spent some time with couchsurfers from France and Canada. Luna got microchipped so that she can travel internationally. And I began a quest to read all of Bill Bryson’s books, as well as a number of travel guides, Expat advice books and travel memoirs.
I also made it out to the Denver Zombie Crawl for the first time ever, had beers with a former foreign correspondent and wore my Venetian carnivale masque for halloween.
November
Sometime in November, I looked in my closet and was delighted to realize that, for the first time in YEARS, I loved everything in there. I no longer felt as though I had nothing to wear or had to do laundry every two days or was dressing too young. This was a lovely moment in my life.
And now for the exciting part: Roommate #1 got married! On beautiful Coronado Island in the beautiful California sunshine at the beautiful, romantic Hotel Del Coronado. I was there, obviously, in various sundresses and a bridesmaid dress–feeling happy and free and at home and (get this!) not working for days on end. “I love weddings. Drinks all around!”
After said wedding, I stayed in San Diego for a few days and I fell in love with it. And the whole year came full circle when I again started to think about vulnerability and wholeheartedness. I wrote my first poem in something like a year. And I felt free.
December
Finally, as the year drew toward its inevitable close, I spent my time reading about theology, traveling to warmer climes, sifting through wedding photos and contemplating the new year. I also spent a frantic 2.5 weeks under looming deadlines, happy to be self-employed and feeling in awe that the whole self-employment thing seems to be working. It still feels unreal. And requires a lot of trust day-by-day.
Happy 2012, my darlings. To an even more exciting year…who knows what will come?
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