2018 in Review & Welcome to 2019

2018 in Review // New Year 2019

2018 was one hell of a year. Still, it wasn't too bad--as I always say, a year in which my apartment doesn't burn down is a good year (ahem, eff you, 2014). A brief review of Sammee's life in 2018:

January

I had a pretty intense & traumatic holiday in 2017, so January was spent recuperating. 

February

My aunt Sandra, who was very close to me, passed away from congestive heart failure.

March

My beloved dog, Bill, passed away from congestive heart failure. This was an extremely busy month. I visited my dear friend for Easter weekend and that was a welcome respite. 

April

This was also an unusually stressful and busy month. But we adopted our dear Jules dog from the shelter, which was a blessing.

May

My spouse, Eric, lost his job.

June

My spouse's uncle, Stu, died unexpectedly in a cycling accident. We were both close to him and it was a devastating loss. 

July

We finally closed the yoga studio. Thank GODDESS. I let my hair down a bit too much on vacation whilst celebrating my birthday. Note to self: do not combine vacation with work and birthday celebrations EVER AGAIN (good life lesson). 

August

I enacted some extremely important self-care routines, such as finally signing up for proper eating disorder therapy (for the first time since 2005, when I first went to eating disorder treatment) and meditating daily. My uncle's aunt Sharon passed away after a long illness.

September

My parent's dog died at age 14.

October

I can't remember anything particularly happy or sad in this month. It is a blur of work and obligations, but also a lot of daily meditation, for which I am extremely grateful.

November

I got the proofs back from the edited collection I worked on with a colleague. This month was ridiculously busy and stressful but I accomplished ALL THE THINGS.

December

It was pretty stressful, as per usual, with recitals and grading. I got sick for three weeks. I also got some extremely good news at the very end of the month. This news makes me realise that the universe DOES provide and that I should be full of gratitude for each day as it is a gift.

As I look back on this year, my main takeaway is that I focus way too much on the negative. The year did have a lot of trauma in it, but I am sure that each day had multitudes of joys and happiness. So my primary resolution for this year is to focus on those positives and be grateful for the joys brought to life.

My other important lessons learned this year were daily meditation and its necessity for my mental health, and also a lot of valuable lessons about enacting boundaries and how to have healthy friendships. For 2019, I would like to develop also even healthier work-life boundaries, and continue learning how to live with negotiate uncomfortable feelings without allowing them to be too all encompassing. I am grateful to all of my teachers, mentors, friends, family, and loved ones. You know who you are. Namaste. 💌🏩