2014 Review

So another year is almost over! It’s been an intense one!

My word for 2014 was Growth. I think I fulfilled that. I grew in just about every way a person can grow:

I grew a lot in terms of my artistic repertoire.  I completed many projects, like the Luminaids for Lumiere and Inktober, and plenty of smaller projects that I didn’t tell anyone about. I experimented with things until I was blue in the face and red in the fingers and finally figured out a sound way to turn my artwork into jewelry. (It will be available for purchase soon!) I loosened up a bit in terms of my artistic approach, which is big on its own, but it also allowed me to expand into doing many things like the multifaceted person that I am instead of being the one trick pony I felt like I was becoming.

The biggest growth, though, was in my personal life, which I think is where growth has to take place before anything else can get really worked out. I moved into a new apartment which sparked a series of changes, some of which were quite unexpected. I certainly lost some things this year in that I can’t rely on my spine as well as I used to, but herniating a disk three times forced the issue for me of caring about my spinal health so I took up regular swimming. I’ve always loved the water, but I never had a pool membership, leaving swimming as a summertime, outdoor event. I fixed that and just a few short months later I have a lot of new muscle growth and even extra energy, which is positively amazing for someone with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and more than I ever could have hoped for.

I also gained a lot of self-confidence and I have a better understanding of who I am right now (I say right now because I’ve accepted that I’m constantly changing!) And let’s not forget that 2014 marks the year I finally became a Canadian citizen, which gave me a feeling of stability that I didn’t realize I needed.

There are definitely some areas where I didn’t grow, but I have to believe that those things were lying in wait while I worked on the other things that were probably more pressing. Hopefully those things will fall into place in 2015.

And speaking of the new year, this means I have to pick a new word! But I think I’ll save that until I actually get there. {: See you in 2015!!

Credit: Mushroom photo from Imageafter.com