That Fresh Feeling

“Try
Try to forget what’s in the past
Tomorrow is here
Love,
Orange sky above lighting your way
There’s nothing to fear

Birds singing a song
Old paint is peeling
This is that fresh
That fresh feeling”

-The Eels

I have spent the latter half of 2018 feeling worn down, but as the sun sets on the last day of the year, I am finally feeling “that fresh feeling” on the wind. Recognizing I have spent a fair bit of time lamenting the tough stuff from 2018, in an effort to end on a positive note, and a hat-tip to past Janelle for her 2018 victories, here’s a few good things worth celebrating (and some sunset photos)…

• One of the best snowboarding seasons of my life including lots of good times with awesome people at Sun Peaks, Revelstoke, Whistler, Seymour, Cypress and Baker!
• The day I did a beach sunrise and mountain sunset in the same day.
• Getting to guide some really cool, unique tours, including to Portland, the Calgary Stampede, and Drumheller (dinosaurs!!!), as well as taking on a leadership role in helping train new tour guides.
• Getting divorced, officially, which although in itself this wasn’t a good thing, the closure and freedom it brought was.
• Amazing friends surrounding me during this time, even throwing me a pinterest-perfect Divorce Party to celebrate my survival and freedom.
• Buying a motorcycle as a divorce present to myself, and going on my first long distance motorcycle adventure to the Kootenays.
• Good samaritans and serendipitous encounters with people who helped me after I crashed the aforementioned motorcycle in a literal ghost town.
• Rocking a knee scooter.
• Turning a financially stressful, deeply discouraging injury-induced situation into an opportunity for inspiration and growth in my work life.
• Building solid, positive and non-romantic relationships with amazing male friends. Granted, I have been known to lament that “nearly all the guys I know are taken or gay or both” but in many ways it has been exactly what I’ve needed… to enjoy the trust and affirmation of growing friendships without the concern/anticipation of potential romantic futures.
• Exploring romantic possibilities as opportunities to grow and heal, and having the courage to say goodbye, as well as the discernment to know when it was time to.
• Re-discovering a contentment with being single, finally feeling the scale tip from a feeling of loneliness and frustration to a feeling of freedom and hope.
• Enjoying restorative times with family and friends over the holidays.
• Finishing the year with a final sunset and an attitude of optimism for 2019!

Last sunset of 2018. Happy New Year!!!