2014 has been a year of doozies--in my life and around the world. Here are a few special moments, captured:
Married my favorite person in the world. Photo credit: Natalie Jenks.
Got promoted.
Celebrated the life of my wonderful grandfather Fred Jackson, who passed away the day before Ryan and I got married. We continue to feel his spirit.
Shared in the joys of friend weddings, with the best man in the world.
Honeymooned in Mexico.
Spent quality time with my wonderful grandmother Saralee Halprin, who passed away peacefully in her home in November 2014. I wear her lipstick every day. Learn more about her amazing life at saraleehalprin.org.
Bonded with my best lady friends--women I have known all my life. I love you all.
Collaborated with a wonderful group of writers, actors and curators with Play On Words, our burgeoning literary movement. Here are some shots of us at our Lit Crawl premiere in October 2014. Learn more at playonwordssj.wordpress.com.
Visited my dear friend Dumi in Spokane and learned to paddleboard. Verdict: #fuckingawesome.
Spent quality time with my new extended family. I'm so insanely grateful for them all.
Amidst all of these big life changes, there was the news:
- ISIS
- Robin Williams
- Michael Brown
- Eric Garner
- ebola
- Ukraine
- CIA torture report
Sometimes I wonder where all the empathy we feel goes. My experience is not the same as anyone who lost their lives or civil liberties this year, and I fully acknowledge that. My instincts and feelings are more raw and alive than ever. There is a level of doozy that surpasses what I can imagine and it is my hope that we can recognize, own, and recover from cycles of injustice and violence. I'm ready to educate myself and be educated by those whose voices we most desperately need to hear.
This year I've learned that we have a real choice in the way we approach not only the doozies in our life, but all the moments between them. Those life-shifting, anxiety-producing events make us value the quiet, the mundane, the sweet and the content. Making dinner with Ryan. Having friends over for dinner. Listening to Schubert and remembering the way my grandmother sat at the piano. Discovering new books. Hiking Mission Peak by myself on my birthday. Long runs and bike rides out to Alviso, where the water is quiet and the sky is endless and you can see where the Bay begins.
2015: We're here, universe. We're ready to work. And we're ready to play.