01 January 2014
Post Christmas Shopping in Galveston, TX
Happy New Year! I have been putting off writing a new blog for a while now because my head has been pretty muddled. So I am taking steps to clear the murkiness and emerge with more clarity in 2014…
How to sum up this past year? It's been a whirlwind of trying to find my footing and way again. I'm getting there, but the road isn't always easy. A few of the blogs I routinely read chose to reflect differently this year. One did a review of 2014…writing it up the way she wants it to go...and the other had us look back 10 years to revisit where we were in 2004 to see how far we've come.
Ten years ago, at this time, my Father was dying of cancer and I had yet to visit Scotland. My current life has been shaped entirely by what has happened in the past 10 years. It's wild to to think about.
2014 is pretty much going to start off as a prep year. I still have a lot of school work to do and am in the process of setting up my health coaching business. I have also begun researching ideas for returning to Scotland. That is always on my To Do list.
I don't necessarily want to dwell on 2013. It has been sort of askew for me. Mostly confused with a lot I was pushing away/didn't want to face. I did a lot of coping and dwelling and finally found a thread to grab onto which brought things back into focus.
On this day, last year, I was taking a New Year's Day walk with friends in England. I was facing returning to the States after living in Scotland (my dream) for 7 months and pretty much in denial of that. It felt so right to be in the UK…something deep inside…that I couldn't imagine having to leave. But leave I had to do.
Then came the time to figure out what to do next…and it was a lengthy process which finally began to straighten out while visiting my cousin. I remember having a rather passionate discussion in her car about how people eat and how they think it's healthy but it really isn't. I was so intense over it all and I thought…"I want to work with this somehow." The other piece clicked into place when, while in my cousin's kitchen, I said the fateful words, "Maybe I should go to culinary school."
You'd think it would have been obvious, no?
So one thing led to another…synchronicity kicked in full force…and here I am, halfway into earning a technical certificate in culinary arts as well as integrative health coaching.
2013 brought a lot of gifts and some loss. I cannot say it was my most joyous year…but it was a very significant part of the journey. I reconnected with some old acquaintances who have turned into amazing new friends, I traveled in and through every state in New England, lived in California for a little while and ended up down in Louisiana. All of this wouldn't have happened if not for my incredible network of friends (some of whom I met in Scotland...random meetings sometimes lead to a bigger piece of the puzzle). I am very grateful for you all.
Following our bliss is not always a joyous easy thing. It is marked with spells of doubt and difficult times. We have to do the work in order to make it to the next awesome peek.
I am looking towards 2014 with renewed purpose and an eye for doing things in a new way. No resolutions, just a gentle urging to make things better one day at a time.
XO
P.S. One of the new things I am striving to do is a newsletter! If you are interested, please sign up HERE.