2017.

2016 was a year filled with firsts. It was my first funeral. It was my first winter formal. It was my first time to Windansea Beach, flying in a plane alone, going to camp, meditating, meeting one of my greatest inspirations, reading Gift From The Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, making a vlog, representing a social enterprise, studying astronomy, organizing an art show, learning French, selling my wood art in a shop, watching Star Wars, trying ratatouille, and going into New York City with no one else but a friend by my side. 

Though I knew it was going to be a good year, everything that came was unexpected. I've grown and explored significantly since the beginning of 2016. I've improved my writing and artistic skills, oh my goodness, yes. This year is the year I have felt most alive. I went into 2016 happy, and now I feel happy and alive. I didn't go to Italy. Instead I went to California and Wisconsin. And I feel energy inside me like gold. This energy will carry me into 2017 like the ocean brought Venus to shore. Speaking of the ocean, my love for it has only increased drastically. I love being by the water. L o v e.

Of course, there were some downfalls this year, between the election and the recent deaths of Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. I can't pretend that everything was positive, but it's important to see the personal joy this year has brought us as well because there was still some goodness in 2016. And we can use our knowledge of this past year to make 2017 a better one. Every person matters in the grand scheme of things, we all have an impact. So let's make 2017 a better one, shall we?

I believe 2017 will change me positively. There's so much I wish to learn, and so much I wish to do and discover and explore, internally and externally. I want to hike, I want to take photos, I want to travel, I want to take risks, I want to experience something new, and I want to get inspired. I also wish to better understand how to balance everything. I want to become the person I've been dreaming of. It will all come with time, and as I say goodbye to such a lovely year, I greet the new one. Bonjour. Bienvenue. 

 

There are a few things that are leading me into 2017 along with the golden energy. Hopefully, it will make for another wonderful year. 

Music: Vapour by Vancouver Sleep Clinic. (I still love Late Lights by Great Mountain Fire, I did say it would stick around for a while.) Though, a song I love from 2016 is Forest Fires by Axel Flóvent. All three of those are amazing. 

Item: A darling friend of mine got me a set of Winsor and Newton drawing inks. They're little tubs of gorgeous colors that I cannot wait to use more. I spent a night at her house, where she made me ratatouille, played French music, and together we made crepes. She had told my sister that she was giving me Paris for Christmas. My goodness, she did it. 

Quote: "Be kind to yourself in the year ahead. Remember to forgive yourself, and to forgive others. It's too easy to be outraged these days, so much harder to change things, to reach out, to understand. 

Try to make your time matter: minutes and hours and days and weeks can blow away like dead leaves, with nothing to show but time you spent not quite ever doing things, or time you spent waiting to begin. 

Meet new people and talk to them. Make new things and show them to people who might enjoy them. Hug too much. Smile too much. And, when you can, love." -Neil Gaiman. 

Setting: There are two for some reason. One is me sailing on a ship across the water. All there is is water around me. I blame that on Moana. And the second is mountains. Simply mountains. 

Movie: La La Land. It's brilliant in every way, yet sad. 

We are capable of making the world around us lovely. I believed 2016 would be lovely, and I believed I could make it that way. I plan on making 2017 a year worth remembering. And I am wildly excited for the adventures it will bring. I don't have too many plans, but I am making my list of resolutions today. I plan on carrying over my resolutions for 2016 as well, for they all are about improving calmness, health and artistic ability. Those are things that could continuously be improved upon. 

I wish you a happy new year, and I hope you've had a wonderful year as well. I will leave you with a video that inspired me in 2016, and I hope it inspires you too.

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