Sydney, Australia; Los Angeles, California; New York City; Shanghai, China; Hong Kong; Miami; Santa Monica; Bermuda; New York City (again); Toronto; Vancouver, Canada; Austin, Texas; Newport, Rhode Island; and back home again to Boston, Massachusetts. This year has taken me around the world and back again, and while not without its complications, this year has opened doors to new ideas and experiences. Today starts a new year.
A friend and I were talking a few months ago about the typical things girlfriends talk about – men, work, family, shopping, life… and in the middle of our conversation she just stopped and said, “Tutto va bene”, which is Italian for ”everything’s fine”. Not with a sigh or any distress, but with a smile – everything’s fine, live life, enjoy! The phrase stuck with me and has become my new way of approaching life’s daily challenges -the good and bad.
I woke up this morning with a new 5-year-plan, but not one that takes over everything in my life – a new plan that fulfills everything I’ve already go. I have been fortunate enough to live this year doing what I do well – writing about the rest of the world that I hope one day you’ll all see the same way I do. I’ve had my own “Eat, Pray, Love, Shop, Fly, Drink, Repeat” year, and quite honestly, I’m not done with it. However, I’ve always had Tuscany in my sight. Usually at a far distance but today, on this particular morning, Tuscany makes more sense than ever. Not because I’ve fallen love or won the some big book deal, but because it’s time for a new challenge. I woke up this morning, on my birthday, finally ready to take on a ‘moment.’
Italy stole my heart the moment I set foot there three years ago. There’s something captivating about Rome and Florence, and something so wonderfully inspiring in Tuscany. In Tuscany there awaits a dream – maybe a few – just waiting to be lived out. I don’t expect grand villas and wineries (although a few bottles would be nice) but I expect some inspiration to carry me toward the next phase of my life – whatever that may be. Boston has been home for almost 15 years and has provided me with the front step from which I’ve cast off on my adventures, and always returned home. Now it’s time for something new.
One of my dearest friends makes lists every year on her birthday. She writes down her goals and bullet-points her wants and action-items, and then at the end of the year looks back at them and because she’s who she is, she usually accomplishes everything she’s set out to do. I decided to make a list this year:
- Pay off the rest of the debt.
- Travel to South Africa.
- More bylines. (Caveat: This has been an amazing year professionally, but who am I to not push myself just a little harder?)
- Reduce/eliminate the bad habits that sometimes influence my daily grind (and they know what they are).
- Push myself to new limits. Climb tall buildings (or take the elevator), eat new foods, take on new challenges.
- Sleep more.
- Find more time to exercise, outside of the aisle on airplanes or running through airports.
- Finish the book proposal.
- Volunteer more. This isn’t easily done given my schedule, but there are little things I can do to give back. I’ll be spending Christmas alone on the island of L’anai, Hawaii, this year (on purpose). I’m taking a much needed and well-deserved “ME” vacation, but I’m also working with the hotels to set up a Christmas party for kids at the local children’s hospital.
- Get ready for next year. What that means we’ll wait and discover together. According to my astrology friends this year I’m entering is “Year 4″ – a year of hard work, slow and steady progress. It’s about establishing self-control and getting organized… apparently, year 5 is a fun and exciting year…
I woke up this morning to well wishes from around the world -text messages from Hong Kong, emails from Shanghai and Hawaii, Facebook posts from California to New York, phone calls from St. Louis and red velvet cupcakes from my friends in Toronto. I sit drinking my morning coffee, eating half a cupcake and wrapped in my new cashmere sweater, a birthday present from my friends, and I smile. I’m blessed, but mostly, I’m happy. Tutto va bene…
Caption: The photo that sums up my year.
Congratulations seems to be the most appropriate response here.
Great list. The importance of lists like these is to be reasonnable; you don’t want to create false hopes and unreachable goals only to be disappointed in yourself a year later.
Can’t wait to see which item you will solve first.