The Word "New"...

Yes, I see everyone is posting their New Year’s Resolutions and trying to get a new outlook on life or reflecting on the great and memorable things that have happened in 2012.   Sounds like a great thing; a traditionally forward thinking; thing to do.

My boss puts out a newsletter for her family and friends every year that hits the highlights of the past year of great moments that she and her husband shared.  In reading her newsletter, I decided to really reflect on decisive moments in my past year.  Sometimes you generalize and maybe think you haven’t moved much or grown much throughout the year because you forget about defining moments.  Facebook (an actual useful tool in this instance) combined some defining moments in a photo collage and put it on my timeline and I came away with the sense that I didn’t spend every waking moment at work or being lonely and fat.

This was my first year in my new house.  I did a 5K Heart Walk where I carried my 5 year old nephew on my back nearly the entire time in new sneakers.  I saw Nichelle Nichols in person.  I had a professional 2 day photo-shoot that convinced me models don’t get paid enough.  I spent some time with my half-sister and half-brother that I never knew about until my father died.  I went on a Girls Weekend to the Bahamas with some of the best people I’ve met in my life.  And I got to sit in a $250,000 2012 Audi R8 convertible and put the top up. 

I broke up with my boyfriend of 6 months January 1, 2012 and went on a boyfriend hiatus for the whole year.  I thought I’d found what I was looking for in a dear friend around June/July but though I thought I was in love briefly, I decided I was looking for someone to love and he was best available at the time.  It seems like I did what I set out to do in January and worked on myself and I don’t feel as desperately lonely as I did in 2011. I generally enjoyed my year of not having a significant other and nearly made it through the winter. 

But just when the gates were about to close on the year, I met someone that I was not interested in and went out with as a truly friendly outing.  It is turning into something more and something I haven’t quite experienced before.  He makes me happy so far and we enjoy a great multitude of the same things.  Yes, I know it is technically winter and he knows about my experiment.  He is already lamenting that I will not like him anymore come April...smh.  To the contrary, I am taking it slow and really analyzing how this relationship is to grow and in what way, since I now know what it’s like to enjoy being with oneself (yes, I was even getting used to and excited about becoming the Wicked Witch of the South – and Bitter is the new Black) but as my New Year’s Resolution, I intend to do and enjoy both!