New Year's Eve 2015

Parts of this were adapted from a letter I wrote. The idea to make it a New Year's post came from someone else. No pressure.

Just giving credit where credit is due. *grins* You know who you are.

So here we are. Hard to believe it's the end of another year. Events around this time last year feel like they were just a few months ago. I have to think back over all the things I've done and people I've met to remember that yes, it really has been that long.

Yet a couple days ago, I was thinking about a small dinner party I was at, fun but forgettable, wondering if it was sometime in November. Then it hit me that that was only last week.

*shakes head* I'm getting old.

Aren't we all?

Well. If you didn't know, according to the Chinese Zodiac, 2015 was the Year of the Goat. There are twelve animal signs, each animal is represented once every dozen years. And this year was mine. 

I'm a Goat. Insert joke here. 

Not that I follow this stuff. I'm not even Chinese! I just find it intriguing how, though interpretations may vary, some caprine descriptions really do sound like me.

Anyway. All the way back in January, I remember thinking that this was my year. I had fond memories of the last one in 2005 - wow, that's a long time ago - and hoped that this one would give me everything I wanted.

And it didn't.

But looking back...I kind of think I got what I needed.

Yes, okay, fine. You can sing the song. It's as good a soundtrack as any.

Yes, there are still issues unresolved and goals unachieved that I'm just going to have to carry over to next year. There are things I wish I'd done differently. But that's the point, isn't it. I had to do those things to know they weren't what I wanted. That's how we learn, and grow.

I'm starting to think happiness is like a constellation. It's easy to see a dark sky. But find the stars, and you can draw a brighter picture.

We all spend a lot of time being worried or anxious, irritable or depressed. But if I look back over the last year, it's the bright spots I remember. I've read a lot of books, played a lot of games, written things I wanted to write. I've made new friends. I've had deep conversations, felt like a badass, acted like an idiot. I've made people laugh.

That's not a bad picture, don't you think. *raises glass* Here's to 2015.

I just want to say, to all the people who've made my life brighter this year - family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances and the ones I used to know - 

Thank you. I hope I've made yours brighter as well.

So here we go.

*smiles*

See you on the other side.