Harvest

My birthday is here again, and as happens every year at this time, I find myself reviewing the year just past and planning for the year ahead.

This has been a year filled with positives, all in all. This time last year I was in so much pain I could only walk using a staff to lean on, and sometimes even that didn't save me from falling to my knees in agony when a sharp spasm hit. But coupled with my own intense advocacy and an intelligent, self-confident doctor (i.e.; not threatened by said intense advocacy), I chronicled the situation. And although we didn't discover the cause, we did find a way to manage the pain enough that I could live a little more.

In February, I accepted a personal challenge that wholely pushed me back into the land of the living, and helped me realise my artistic self again.

This year I was published, I had a gallery show, my studio was completely set up as a truly usable space, and I made a few casual acquaintances of fellow artists in town. I also started sleeping alone, stopped some very self-destructive behaviour, and let go of some people I had held onto for too long.

As I said, all in all a positive year.

What about the year ahead? I don't have those answers yet, though I was told yesterday that an ipod is in my immediate future! Yeaaa! LOVE those techno-giftees, and an MP3 player is sooooo welcome! But about the next year, here are a few things I'm fairly sure WILL happen:

Shadoe will likely go quietly to sleep and not wake up one morning.
Shatzie could easily follow her lead.
I will have some dental work done.
The car will get some repairs done.
The bus will get some repairs done.
More stuff will be disposed of around here.
My work will get better, bigger again (after a year of small stuff) and stronger.
I will continue to breath and to pray to The Ancestors every night for forgiveness for all my perceived wrongs...to others, but most of all to myself.

Time will tell all...