One of my favorite daily perusals on the internet in Thought Catalog. If you've never looked at it before, no worries...there's a healthy dose of it scattered within my "Friday Fives." I hit the highlights for you, but if you have more time to kill, by all means, check them out and browse away...just make sure you have 30 minutes or so to lose! Anyway, Thought Catalog is great about year in review stuff, but not just at the end of the year. They're posting lists all the time. "The things you learn when you online date"..."The things you learn when you live with 8 cats"..."A reflection of the 10 worst things that happen when you grocery shop at 2AM"...they exist, and they're kind of funny. Buzzfeed follows a similar model; and Buzzfeed is a wildly popular, successful, and well known internet space.
And so, as my tiny, mini market blog bobs along in the waters of internet media and entertainment, I present you my own 2014 list. The list of things I learned in 2014, and where it's taking me in the new year.
1. I don't like change (and I don't expect that to change...) However, my "gut feeling" about the "right kind" of change, is very good. - I've never been good about changing and major life transitions. I like the comfort of my routine, and generally reject things that threaten that. I distinctly remember a conversation once where Mr. Dr. asked if I was ready to leave La Crosse to find "the next phase" of my life, and I rejected it out of hand. And yet, that changed very quickly after meeting J Word. It was very difficult to say goodbye to La Crosse, and admittedly, I cried in my apartment the day we packed up the last boxes and dropped off the keys. But as much as I hated leaving what I knew for the thrill of the unknown, deep down, I never really doubted that it was the right choice...and my gut feeling has turned out to be very very right.
2. Sometimes, big questions have easy answers. - I am an overthinker by nature. It comes with the territory of having an overactive imagination. When faced with life's big questions, I can reason out every possible situation (good and bad) and play out any number of consequences that might come from my potential choice. It's a gift and a curse. This year, however, I've learned that sometimes, the big questions have easy answers. Sometimes, those answers correspond to situations discussed in item #1. I riddled out a lot of potential scenarios when considering taking a new job and leaving La Crosse. At the same time, telling J Word I'd marry him...easiest answer ever.
3. Dating multiple people at once is... - I was once told that it was OK to see someone for lunch, and then go to dinner with someone else. After the last year, I'm not willing to say that approach is flat out wrong, but I will say that approach is flat out complicated. As part of my online dating experiment in 2014, I never went to two dates with two different people on the same day, but I did have dinner with as many as three different people in the same week. It wasn't a disaster, but it was confusing. I found it hard not to compare the guys, sort out how to follow up, and schedule things around each other. I also felt weird about when the right time to tell guys A and B, that I was more interested in guy C. (In all actually, it didn't work out with any of them...)
4. Dating multiple people at once is... - Dating multiple people at once is also a little thrilling. It feels good to be desirable and attractive, and in the online meat market that is internet dating, it's even restores a little faith in humanity that there are still decent people out there when you can score three dates with three different, relatively normal people in the same week. That is, until you realize that the guys you're dating could also be seeing two other people in the same week...in which case it all starts to feel weird.
5. I wasn't wrong when I said... - On the heels of my online dating adventure (and subsequent failure #1), I told a good friend that I was over the first date thing, and really what I wanted was the 6 months in relationship, when I didn't have to be dressed and pressed in order to be attractive or happy...but rather, I could sit on my couch in jeans and a sweatshirt on a Sunday afternoon grading papers, watching football, and have someone to hang out with who wasn't mortally offended to see me in a ponytail sans makeup. I wasn't wrong; it's pretty great!
Crosse, I would have defined myself as a writer, reader, runner, who liked to cook myself good food, hangout with my friends, and get occasionally lazy and binge on Netflix. Now that I live in Rochester I would define myself as a writer, reader, runner, who still likes to cook good food (but now for two!), hangout with friends, and get occasionally lazy and binge on Netflix. As stated in #1, life changes are scary and hard. What makes life changes less scary and easier?? Being true the awesome person you already are!
7. Hold on the awesome people in your life, but also make room for new awesome people! - I have been blessed with amazing people in my life, people who I know will always be there for me. Once upon a time I heard that we only get three people in our lives that we can genuinely rely on no matter what, and by that measure, I'd have already been done...but I like surrounding myself with amazing people, and I know some of the best! Take a risk...meet someone amazing. They don't have to replace your other amazing friends. But who doesn't want to just have a group of amazing friends?!?
8. Be happy...skip the news. - I like being up to date on current events, but honestly, I'd much rather get my updates from my daily CNN app headlines, Facebook news feed suggested reads, Buzzfeed current events spin, and Yahoo! I don't care if that doesn't count as "real news." Have you watched the real news lately? Sooooo depressing.
9. Everything costs money. - Here's another one I've known about for a long time, so perhaps I should rephrase. Everything costs money, and there are times when it's OK to spend it! I'm a habitual saver...and always try to err on the side of caution. Yet, this year I bought and moved a piano...paid off the rest of my car loan...and started planning a wedding. That's a lot of dollar signs, and a lot of potential anxiety for someone who flinches at dollar signs. But you know what, it's all been OK...and I keep going to work every morning!
10. Something will happen in 2015 that's completely awesome and unexpected... - Let it happen! There is no possible way I could have predicted my 2014. If you would have told me last year at this time, that this is what my life would be this year this time, I would have rolled my eyes, laughed, (and then probably had a panic attack because, oh my goodness, what if that was all true!?!). Life is going to blow your mind at some point...and it will likely be better than you ever could have imagined. Go with it! It's so worth it!
Happy Trails, Happy New Year,
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