The Landslide

2017… is coming to an end.

And as I often do, I sit next to the fire, with the cold wind gusting the snow back and forth across the needles of the spruce trees….

I reflect.

I breath.

I unplug.

I plan.

I write.

Because I was always have been, first and foremost… a writer…..

It was the year of the climb.

And decent.

Figuratively and literally.

In the words of Fleetwood Mac….

“I climbed a mountain and I turned around.

And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills

Til the landslide brought me down.

Can the child in my heart rise above?

Can I handle the seasons of my life?”

The seasons of my life…..

There are so many. Expected and unexpected. Good and bad. Difficult and effortless.

It was a year of struggle. It was a year of triumph. A year of sadness. A year of bliss. A snowball of emotions that on any given day I would go through all of them in a just an hour.

I stepped into a different role as a daughter. I stepped into a different role as a parent. I stepped into a different role as an entrepreneur. And all these steps I took reluctantly. With apprehension….and somedays crippling fear.

And I hate fear. It’s not me. Not one bit. I am a girl unafraid of anything.

But sometimes, some days, some years…… you are afraid.

Of life.

Of death.

And everything in between.

But that’s the thing about life….mother nature doesn’t lose a second of time for life and death. It keeps twirling no matter what. It doesn’t skip a beat.  It’s us that have to catch up. Keep going. Continue on. Grow. Grow up. Grow old. Fare the storm. Revel in the sun.  Find our calm. Whatever we choose.

And in the end. I chose the sun. The calm.

To 2017… the year I climbed a giant damn mountain. (There is no elegant way to write that…. because the climb was not elegant or graceful in any way.)  The year I saw the Serengeti in its pure form. Raw. And beautiful. The year I lost all my toe nails.

To the year of political uproar, national and local….. good or bad, there are discussions out there that weren’t there before. And the year of incredible devastation… and to those who help. No questions asked. No reward. To you.

To the year I saw cactus hug one another.

To the year I found out that death is just the beginning.

To the summer I spent every spare second of warm nestled in a hammock. And felt no regret.

To the  year I noticed that Rocky Balboa wore Chucks.

To the year my clients tucked me into their hearts and let me be me. Even if I cried sometimes. Or laughed until I couldn’t function. Or they cried. Or they laughed until they couldn’t function. They let me be the one to capture their lives in that moment, and without them, I seriously couldn’t function….

and to the year I made stuff. And sold it.

Cheers to the most beautiful year I’ve had behind the lens.

Cheers to the year of all the emotions. All the feelings. All the ups and downs and ins and outs.

Cheers to knowing where I can be calm.

Cheers to the people who love me and support me. Family and friends.

Cheers.

 

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