Whether you celebrate it on the first of January according to the Gregorian calendar or at another time according to other varied calendars, the New Year has one thing in common: It is a pretty big deal. People plan for weeks, dress up, and travel to places and if you are in a really cheesy movie schedule fateful meetings on top of famous monuments. Fireworks, music, and drinking make obvious our tremendous joy at the earth having completed an entire revolution (well…nearly) around the sun.  There is no denying it; we humans adore both new beginnings and happy endings. 

It’s been QUITE a year, to say the least. Last year was a difficult and trying year, with the robbery in Puerto Rico and a lot of rough situations that I had to go through personally. To be frank, 2012 was absolutely rubbish – with the only perk really coming from my brief trek through the UK and Ireland (with a couple of days spent in Amsterdam) earlier in the Spring. I was in a legal battle with a dishonest, greedy, and heartless insurance company to kick off 2013. They simply didn’t want to pay for my claim, bluntly trying to find anyway possible to get out, free and clear, with no worry, whim, or care of what that meant to me. After nearly nine months disputing and fighting, I was given a payout that was only about 17% of what they actually owed me, which after feeding the hungry monster that is lawyer fees, I would have been left with in the negative if it wasn’t for a saint close to the situation.

It is probably one of the biggest birthday celebrations around the world: with more than two billion disciples, almost a third of world’s population is likely to celebrate Christmas, the annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus. Albeit having its seed in religious belief, Christmas seemingly grew into a massive global shopping spree in winter, turning the ancient idea of gift giving into a commercial manifestation. However, there are still plenty of traditions celebrating this time of the year around the globe, as manifold and wondrous as the world itself… 

This year has been one of incredible newness and adventure for our family.  At the start of 2013—New Year’s Eve, in fact—we flew away from normal and into a life of continuous travel.  Upon arrival in Costa Rica, we immediately fell in love with the warm, friendly and bio-diverse country.  Instead of staying three months as planned, we stayed the entire year.  It has gone by in a flash, much like a dream.  We’ve seen waterfalls, held toucans, and shooed away monkeys.  We’ve played on beaches that I never thought could be so beautiful and lived in neighborhoods where only Spanish is spoken.  It has truly been a cultural experience, and the first year of our new life comes to a close among the holiday festivities still so foreign to us.  The weeks leading up to the 25th have been remarkable as we enjoy the holiday experience of our current society, allow new traditions to evolve in our travels, and of course, find amazing presents.

If you’re an avid reader of my blog, then you may have noticed that as of late, I haven’t been publishing my usual deep and thoughtful, yet sometimes inspiring pieces. My work was once full of analytical twists, wistful ramblings, and challenging provocations, but now I find it hard to string one thought to the next. Inspiration has eluded me, and now my work suffers for it. Ohio is boring, cold, and depressing, and while at one time that was enough to bring out some interesting whimsical and dark pieces, it’s now attributing to my own complacency.