How do you visualize a year? As long as I can remember, I always feel like a year is such a long period time, until I would think about it in terms of days:, 365. Three-hundred-sixty-five days seems so short. It my head it’s a linear view, January on the left and December on the right. The night between the 31st of December and the 1st of January visually I guess was sort of a transported leap back to the beginning. Anyways, a quick detour to insert the Rent song, .

2015 was a pretty rad year. It was my second year as a financially independent professional, which I’ll probably stop counting in the coming years. It was less transitional than 2014 was, and particularly sticks out in my mind, when I look back, as a year filled with familiar faces passing through: the Ying to my Yang came for a week of Parisian summer shenanigans, Mom in town for nearby adventures and exhibitions, an old roommate stopping through, a childhood friend passing through on her way home from her Peace Corps term, also two very inspirational pals came to town for what turned out to be an unexpectedly heart-wrenching weekend for the City of Light. I’m genuinely happy that I was able to take a couple of little trips: to Munich to visit one of my favorite Brazilians, to Brussels with a dear friend, to the Canary Islands for a sun-filled and much needed getaway with my lover, a weekend in London to sew my bridesmaids dress with a bride-to-be for her wedding next summer, Christmas in Bretagne with my in-law’s at a family home filled with so many memories.

Throughout the year I was able to reconnect with so many people I care about a lot, which is unfortunately not possible every year for various reasons… Is it sad to think we’re already making plans for next Christmas?! I haven’t really set out my goals for this twenty-sixteen, but I do like the idea of a theme that my friend Anne told me about. One of my main goals is to keep my head as much as possible in the present, to take full advantage of the simple moments with the people I’m surrounded by. I have a tendency to think too far into the future and let it overpower my present. I’ve also ordered a bunch of books I plan to read and keep my mind churning with podcasts. These two points will have to somehow fit into the theme I’ll define my year by.

I sure hope the years don’t increasingly seem shorter and shorter as I continue to get older… Happy New Year, folks!