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2015 Reflections and 2016 Goals

Originally I was going to answer the same set of questions I did last year, but ultimately I felt a bit like I was repeating myself either from 2014 or because most of 2015 was pretty consistent.  The first third of 2015 was somewhat rough, lots of work and not much else, so most of the rest of the year was regrouping from that, much like in 2014. Thematically the year was mainly about coming back to myself, centering, relearning patience, and finding gratitude.

Travel-wise the summer was a mix of new adventures and old favorites (mainly from 2013). Most of my favorite memories for the year come from that time. In particular, Toronto and Victoria were both new favorites of mine. Both places felt freeing and peaceful; Victoria was more centering while Toronto was empowering in an energetic sort of way.

I have a post with all of my 2015 favorites, but a few other highlights include seeing The Way We Get By in May as well as Joy Williams at the Gramercy, and seeing Betroffenheit in Toronto, which was hands down the single most emotionally intense performance I have ever attended. I didn't watch many films or TV shows in 2015 so I don't have any standout favorites. Books on the other hand were quite hard hitting. The two with the greatest impact, fiction and nonfiction, were Burial Rites by Hannah Kent (review) and Baghdad Burning by Riverbend (review).

In 2015 most of my goals revolved around my project 101 in 1,001 list. To that end I managed to: visit Victoria, BC, Banff National Park, and Stratford, ON; go camping and apple picking, spend a weekend in a cabin, read 100 books, blog once a week for a year (finished in the spring), learn more about permaculture, sew a duvet cover, exercise and do yoga five days a week for a month, and take photo every day for six months.

I also had quite a few goals that I didn't manage to complete in 2015, either because I ran out of time or because I didn't get to them. Most of these are from my 101 in 1,001 list and are rolling over into 2016. These goals include: go horseback riding, see a drive in movie, finish and share my travel videos, continue learning Spanish, start learning French (or possibly Dutch or Swedish or some other language), learn how to replace cane & rush seats, continue learning about permaculture, learn to ID common local plants and animals (20 each), turn a quote into a poster, and scan my film photos.

While I have quite a few 101 in 1,001 tasks complete before the project wraps up in May, there are a few new goals I want to add and focus on for 2016:
  • Learn more ASL
  • Continue on my simplicity journey
  • Finish going paperless (aka scan all the things)
  • Walk 183 miles by the end of the year
  • Walk two bridges
  • Improve flexibility (lots of yoga)
  • Read 75 books & complete the Read Harder Challenge (focusing on diversity and international reads)
  • Write 150k (nonspecific focus)
  • Finish a USA Today crossword
  • Start another 101 in 1,001 project
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