What meant the most to you in 2016, gentle reader? I would love to know. Please consider sharing your highlights of the year with the #3goodthings2016 hashtag.
All years are a balance of fair and foul. It’s no secret that 2016 was – to put it mildly – a rollercoaster of a year. The world was turned upside down, repeatedly. We lost so many deeply loved souls in the public eye. Not too many folk will be mourning 2016′s passing, I’d warrant.
But 2016 can’t have been all bad (can it?). I’d like to focus here on the
highpoints. If you could pinpoint three good things – or even just one –
that made your world a better place in 2016, what would they (or it) be?
I’ll start with my #3goodthings2016:
#3goodthings2016 (1): Drawing another breath
Never have I felt so thankful for the opportunity to draw another breath than I did on the morning of Sunday 4 September 2016. That morning I came very close to being washed out to sea and dashed on jagged rocks, as a direct result of not paying sufficient attention to tide times. This all happened just minutes after I took the above photograph. I wrote about that morning at greater length in my post entitled New day, new life, new possibility? As I said then:
“I am lucky to be here. […] Each life is fragile. Each new day offers the chance of new life and new possibility. May we all still be here for tomorrow’s sunrise.”
#3goodthings2016 (2): Drawing breath
Giving yoga a go has transformed my life in 2016. Around the time of my birthday back in March, my other half recommended I try out yoga, using the free YouTube videos posted by Adriene Mishler* in her Yoga With Adriene series. I am as graceless, self-conscious and physically uncoordinated as they come. But I immediately loved yoga. It has given me back a level of flexibility I thought I’d lost. Adriene’s mantra is simple: “Find what feels good.” Yoga makes me feel very good indeed. Beyond the poses, it seems that yoga is really about drawing breath, about regulating one’s breathing into a continuous, beneficial flow. I will never be a master yogi, or even a good one (and if you want to see an example of a very good yogi, check out my friend Tash Pieterse’s post The year that was… 2016). Yoga has transformed my life in 2016. And all for a total investment of £15.99 (the cost of my yoga mat). Adriene is a warm and funny Texan woman, who makes yoga accessible and enjoyable, and each of her videos acknowledges that her audience comprises folks at all levels of accomplishment (right down to my level, indeed!). Her recent Compassion Yoga video is a thing of joy:
#3goodthings2016 (3): Drawing
I used to draw all the time when I was growing up. I somehow fell out of practice over recent years, concentrating instead on writing. But a handful of times in 2016 I’ve picked up the drawing pen again – and my goodness does it feel good! Back in the summer, I did my first none-doodle picture in aeons (above), which subsequently became my Instagram avatar. And just in the past week, I spent a hugely enjoyable few minutes drawing the picture at the top of this page and the picture directly below (the latter of which is even now winging its way across the Atlantic to my friend Bryan Wempen in Kansas). I love drawing. I’m not one to make New Year’s resolutions, but I very much hope to draw more often in 2017.
What are your #3goodthings2016?
So: What meant the most to you in 2016, gentle reader? I would love to know. Please consider sharing your highlights of the year with the #3goodthings2016 hashtag.
Footnotes
* Adriene Mishler is also an actress, and you can spot her – if you are particularly eagle eyed – in Richard Linklater’s great 2016 film Everybody Wants Some!! (about which I blogged here).
MJCarty 