Forty Reflections on 2014

1.What one event, big or small, are you going to tell your grandchildren about?
Playing my first tournament with my amazing team

2.If you had to describe your 2014 in 3 words, what would they be?
Exciting, loving, impatient

3.What new things did you discover about yourself?
Not only a skill at, but actually an enjoyment of helping to solve interpersonal problems

4.What single achievement are you most proud of?
My first Most Valuable Jammer award

5.What was the best news you received?
Nothing sticks out in my mind.

6.What was your favourite place that you visited in 2014?
Maine

7.Which of your personal qualities turned out to be the most helpful this year?
Diplomacy

8.Who was your number one go-to person that you could always rely on?
A combination of Eben and Aiden

9.Which new skills did you learn?
Dealing with other people's anger and my own emotions - thanks to Shelby

10.What, or who, are you most thankful for?
I couldn't pick just one. My family, my friends, my teammates...

11.If someone wrote a book about your life in 2014, what kind of genre would it be? A comedy, love story, drama, film noir or something else?
An uplifting love story/drama with comedic moments

12.What was the most important lesson you learnt in 2014?
That being honest and straightforward, even to the point of being blunt, is the most effective way forward.

13.Which mental block(s) did you overcome?
Speaking my mind - I'm still working on it, but I've made a lot of progress.

14.What 5 people did you most enjoy spending time with?
Aiden, Eben, Mom, Ninja, Alejandra

15.What was your biggest break-through moment career-wise?
Deciding to quit my job and move on to greener pastures

16.How did your relationship to your family evolve?
I've become much closer to my mom, through learning she had cancer and seeing her through chemo. I'm unsure where my relations with my sisters stand, since they agreed to pay the legal bills they caused me to incur but our only communications have been through lawyers.

17.What book or movie affected your life in a profound way?
Year of No Sugar

18.What was your favourite compliment that you received this year?
Possibly one from the tournament, when my coach told me I had really come together as a blocker.

19.What little things did you most enjoy during your day-to-day life?
The outdoors, long pun trains, tubing on the river, trying new foods, the swing set in the park

20.What cool things did you create this year?
Logo art for fire camp

21.What was your most common mental state this year (e.g. excited, curious, stressed)?
Probably excitement. I get excited about a lot of things.

22.Was there anything you did for the very first time in your life this year?
I climbed a radio tower to 160 feet and didn't have to change my pants afterward.

23.What was your favourite moment spent with your friends?
Any of the multiple parties thrown by myself and my roommate, or any of the crazy bout/tournament days.

24.What major goal did you lay the foundations for?
Changing my career to become a self-employed artist

25.Which worries turned out to be completely unnecessary?
I'm not yet convinced that they are unnecessary.

26.What experience would you love to do all over again?
The tournament. Either of the trips to Maine. Aiden and Shelby's first derby bout, where I got my first MVJ

27.What was the best gift you received?
A beautiful leather flogger that Aiden made himself

28.How did your overall outlook on life evolve?
I've become more decisive. I'm not the only one who looks for a leader, and sometimes it's best that I be that for others.

29.What was the biggest problem you solved?
Getting away from a league that wasn't fulfilling for its skaters. Realizing that some relationship problems that I used to live with should not be overlooked, through the process of finding a relationship that is so much better.

30.What was the funniest moment of your year, one that still makes it hard not to burst out laughing when you think about it?
Sinking Aiden in the river by mistake while trying to re-inflate his inner tube. He called me the Deflating Cat.

31.What purchase turned out to be the best decision ever?
My new skate boots, which actually fit

32.What one thing would you do differently and why?
If I did something differently, I wouldn't learn the lesson, so I don't think I would change anything.

33.What do you deserve a pat on the back for?
Conquering my fear of heights

34.What activities made you lose track of time?
Drawing. Tubing the river. Sex. Swinging in the park. Playing bouts.

35.What did you think about more than anything else?
Relationships

36.What topics did you most enjoy learning about?
Exercise, food

37.What new habits did you cultivate?
Drinking coffee and tea without sweetener

38.What advice would you give your early-2014 self if you could?
Relax.

39.Did any parts of your self or your life do a complete 180 this year?
No

40.What or who had the biggest positive impact on your life this year?
Aiden