2018: The Greatest Hits

I started this blog on New Year's Day 2018 as a way to kick off my year of self-care. I think I was feeling wounded by some events of 2017 and needed to look inward and try to take better care of myself. I started this blog as a way to share my progress, but then as the John Lennon song says, "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans."

While I failed miserably at meditation, and quite clearly failed at updating this blog, my year of self-care evolved into something else.

Let's just say the first half of 2018 was more or less uneventful. There were minor triumphs and disappointments, of course, but nothing to write home about, so to speak. Things didn't start truly picking up in my life until Spring 2018.

A year that began with the promise of better self-care turned into a year of taking chances, which I think can be a form of self-care. Self-care doesn't have to just be taking aromatherapy baths and drinking tea - that stuff is easy to do. Self-care can also be doing something scary that you know will make your life better. And that is what the second half of 2018 was for me. Don't get me wrong, I still love to soak in the tub with a bath bomb and drink rose alone in my apartment on a Sunday afternoon, but the events on this list are character building and I feel like they should be acknowledged.

2018 Greatest Hits

1. When my kitten rescued me

For Christmas, my mom bought me an ornament with a cat and a sign that says "who rescued whom?" And while my mom adopted my cat Hazel for me on June 1, 2018, the real deal is the kitten rescued me. She rescued me from loneliness. Loneliness that I didn't want to admit to having, really. I pride myself on my independence and my firm belief that if I'm meant to be in a relationship it will happen and it's not something I need to seek out. That said, there are times when the apartment is too quiet. Well, Hurricane Hazel moved in and now makes sure that she disrupts the silence sometimes with her meowing, running and crashing. She is a challenge - but one worth taking on. 

Basically, Hazel and I are now a packaged deal - a 2-for-1 for any man who dares enter our lives. You want to love me, you will learn to love my cat. Period.

2. Participating in local politics

By the way, the numbers on this list are not a ranking...but if they were, this one would be bumped to #1 for being the single most defining decision I made this year. Some pretty big decisions were made by my local government this year. Decisions that will literally change the streetscape and overall feeling of our beautiful and treasured downtown. Two massive high rises were approved despite a lot of community backlash. The overall sentiment was that our municipal government wasn't listening. This led to squabbles online and misinformation spreading like wildfire. I entered into the debate by challenging those who felt the new buildings would provide homes for young people. I basically said that, no, these condos wouldn't be affordable and they would be too small for young families. 

On top of this, my councilor announced she would be running for mayor in the fall election, thus vacating her seat. I was happy to hear she would run for mayor, yet concerned over who would replace her. She had been a very strong advocate for our community, even when it made her an outlier or a single dissenting vote. So, I posed the question online - "who will replace her as ward 2 councilor?" Someone jumped in and told me about Lisa Kearns. While I consider myself a political person - someone very in tune with the issues, be it international, federal, provincial or municipal - yet I had never actually done anything outside of sharing information on social media.

For once my online squabbling paid off! Lisa reached out to me privately and we agreed to meet for coffee. I won't give you the whole long story, but that coffee meeting led me to join her campaign team. I helped her write pieces for her website and social media, and I canvassed the neighbourhood.

Canvassing was the single most terrifying thing about the campaign, but the most important. The thing is, you can release statements and position pieces till the cows come home, but what really resonates with residents is getting in front of them and listening. Knocking on strangers' doors is scary - as not everyone is receptive to this kind of face-to-face interaction. But over the course of the campaign I became more and more comfortable at the door. The bottom line was the election issues were so important that I needed to get over all my personal crap and self-esteem issues and fight for what I believed in.

There were moments of doubt. Truly. Sometimes the campaign got so nasty I had to wonder, "Am I a bad person? Are we bad people?"

The answer came on election night when we won and realized that our message was more or less well received and people were thirsty for our team's brand of change. My previous councilor was elected mayor, and two incumbents were unseated in other wards. I was proud to have been apart of it. While it took a lot of time and effort, it was worth it for the result. 

3. The birth of my niece and nephew

While this had nothing to do with me and is really the highlight of my brother and sister-in-laws' year, it was a big event for our family. Many people know that I do not want children. This seemingly selfish position doesn't sit well with everyone, causing some to say, "you'll change your mind." Now, if you were hoping for this to be like "well, the birth of the twins has changed my mind," you will be disappointed. I still do not wish to have my own children. But having these babies in my life has made me realize how fun it is to be an aunt. I don't want to change their diapers or listen to them cry, but I like holding them, playing with them and even reading to them when they're a captive audience. 

They're sweet and fun and I'm glad they're around. I like my role as Auntie Allison and I hope they grow up and enjoy being my niece and nephew. 

While those were the three major events, but I should acknowledge some other events...my good friend got married this summer which was exciting. There were some engagements and pregnancy announcements, so I was able to share in the joy of others. My good friend ran two back-to-back ironman races and I was able to help her with some of her training. I enjoyed some peace and quiet at the cottage, read some good books, met some great people and did lots of fun things. 

There were some low points, but I prefer not to focus on those. My downfall in the past has been focussing too heavily on the negative. There's no point starting the year with bad feelings about the past. Onward and upward.