my year of change

2008 has been, by far, the most dynamic and important year of my life. Looking back, I still cannot fathom how I got to be so lucky as to experience such wonderful and life-changing things, meet such kind-hearted and inspiring people, and learn so much about myself. The following probably cannot do this amazing year any justice, but I need to record a set of reminders to celebrate all the great things I managed to accomplish and to keep myself focused in the year to come. For while I've gotten so far, there is still much further to go.

• New York City. Enough said.
• Making new friends from scratch.
• Surviving broker's fees, restaurant jobs, humidity, cockroaches, bed bugs, and snow.
• Fulfilling my lifelong dream of attending a conservatory and seeing everything else fall into place.
• Fighting for myself in a competitive environment, leading to belief in my abilities and self-worth.
• Finding out who my real friends and family are.
• Keeping in touch with them and, consequently, myself.
• Saving money. Losing money. Realizing that money doesn't really matter to me.
• Expressing my creativity in all sorts of ways.
• Music. Music. Music.
• Voting for the first black president of the United States.
• Being blessed with the insight that everything is a blessing.
• Falling for a boy. Getting hurt by that boy. Finally understanding that I was never to blame, for his mistakes or all the others made by boys that came before him.
• And most importantly, being completely, utterly, and unapologetically happy.

As the hours draw closer to 2009 here in the Big Apple, I have a few goals in mind. The ultimate resolution: live it up! And that I shall.

• Lose weight. I suppose this should always just be a given.
• Secure a professional acting job.
• Recruit members to Team AlphaBar, New York Chapter, and complete the illustrious alphabetic bar crawl.
• Reinstate Something New Sundays.
• Continue to "put myself out there."
• Find Ted Mosby. Well, one can dream.
• Travel to a place I have never been, preferably outside the United States, but I think that will be determined by the job I hope to have by the end of the year.
  

That's a good start to the new year.