Well, I’m not sure how to start this. I’m imagining a set of weighing scales, and placing all the good and the bad things about 2016 on them. No matter how hard I try to look on the positive side of things, the bad side always tips the scale. I guess that’s because the last few months of the year have been particularly horrible. This year has been a slow slide into despair and anxiety. Aleppo, Brexit, the election, the loss of so many childhood heroes, DAPL, the disturbing headlines just keep on coming. I’m not naive, I know that 2017 will have it’s share of problems, but 2016 really did seem as if a dark cloud was hovering over it and refusing to budge.

Despite all of the above, it would be churlish of me to not admit that this year has had it’s good moments as well, and I would like to remember those.
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This was the year I turned forty, and drank my own weight in chocolate in Paris.
This was the year that I caught up with family, and so many old friends in London, and didn’t want to leave.
This was a particularly fantastic year for the Noctiluna Summer camps, and my first, clumsy try at Parkour.
This year I got back into Yoga and meditation, calmed down a little, and noticed more.
This year I got into some really great fairs, sold lots of shirts, and started painting and drawing more.
This was the year I visited Wonder at the Renwick gallery, and it blew my mind.
This was the first year that both my kids started to go to the same school, and my life got a little bit less complicated and more content.
This was the year that my small town in the suburbs of Washington DC held a rally on it’s town green, and took a stand against against hate and bigotry, and made my heart swell with gratitude.

Below are some pictures of the the good things from this year.
Here’s to fresh starts, always fighting for what’s right, and recognizing the good things in life.

Happy New Year!