A Review of 2012 Takes Me from Sad to Sweet

Such a beautiful sky–will I remember it from 2012?

Here we are, at the end of 2012. Time for the “Personal best of…” – the annual review. But it’s not really the “best” so much as “most memorable” or “most notable.” What gave your 2012 its character? What events still have substance while most of what occurred fades away? What remains foreground even while so much becomes part of the unremembered background?

Here are some memorable events, thoughts, and experiences of my 2012.

1. Saddest personal moment: losing Fretta, my 16-year-old cat. Her death was both shocking and expected. Shocking because she had seemed quite healthy; expected because she had chronic kidney disease and had lived far longer with the disease (8 years) than anticipated. 2012 did not see a new cat come to my life, but we did have a weekend feline guest (as well as a visitor to our yard).

2. Favorite new vegetable: sugar snap peas! We found them at the Farmers’ Market this summer and were quickly initiated into their pleasures. They are sweet and fantastically crunchy!

3. Best entertainment: first season of Homeland (watched in a three-week span on DVD). How many ways are there to say, “Wow!”? We were vaguely spoiled about whether Brody had been turned, but it didn’t matter since the “truth” kept shifting. I have a hard time believing Claire Danes isn’t actually Carrie Mathison in real life because I just don’t know how anybody can act that powerfully and realistically, especially when crying and having wild mood swings.

4. Biggest surprise: discovering how great text messaging is (compliments of my new iPhone). People who take three weeks to respond to e-mails respond to texts in 3 minutes, plus you can communicate on-the-spot when you’re figuring out where to meet someone. Now I understand the motivation for text spelling (no, I can’t yet bring myself to type “UR” or “L8R” and yes, I know my texts look like they come from an old person).

5. Most rewarding professional moments: Meeting people at my presentations, from local events to the ACSLPA in Calgary and ASHA in Atlanta (plus the bonus of seeing Maya Angelou). I stand in awe of how hard speech-language pathologists work to help others and how open they are in sharing their process in my workshops.

There’s so much more! I need a Part II–and fortunately, I have one more day in this year. In the meantime, why not begin your own list? Just start listing everything that comes to mind about 2012 and you’ll find yourself hitting the “best,” “the worst,” and everything in between. But if you need help getting started, here are some questions and prompts (you know the drill).

Questions for Reflection: What experiences evoked the most emotion this year? What experiences surprised you? What leaves you most grateful? What successes did you have professionally or personally? What entertainment did you enjoy? What will stick with you long after 2012 has ended?

Writing Prompts: “When I think of 2012, I think of ______” (then keep writing); “The best thing about this year was ______” (then keep writing); “The worst thing about this year was ______” (then keep writing); “For me, 2012 will always be the year of ______” (then keep writing);