I'm still here.
Those three words cover so much ground, but ultimately, for me, 2011 will go down as the year I survived. It's the year I let go of old feelings and embraced a new career path. The year I learned that true friends can help you get through anything & superficial friends will find the quickest exit when the times get toughest. But most importantly, I learned that if you can keep an open mind and see the bigger picture, the snap shot you might be looking at, no matter how disastrous, is never as impossible as it might seem in the moment.
I started this blog a year ago because I was determined to move beyond the tragedies that I had let limit my life. In many ways, it worked. I let go of the hurt & anger I had been holding on to since I lost my job at RIVR. In doing so, I learned to accept that things would never be like that again and forged a new path with a new career that I could be passionate about.
I've also used this blog to share some of the most important events that have surfaced for me & my family over the last year. I would've never expected that my brother would be diagnosed with cancer & have FOUR brain surgeries over the course of the year. More importantly, I could've never imagined how being faced with mortality would teach me to appreciate the things, people & moments in my life for everything they are.
The rabbit hole, as most of you already know is a reference to Alice in Wonderland. What I've never really addressed, is why I used this reference. Well, part of it was because I've been known to go on and on about things, and since this is my place to do that, I knew when I created it, this would be a place where I didn't hold back. I would say as much as I wanted about whatever I wanted to and I would not care what anyone else thought because IT'S MINE. All of it. And 99% of what I've posted has come from a place of not caring what anyone else thought. The other 1%, well, let's face it, no matter who you are, you will always care what someone thinks of you, especially when you lay your most honest thoughts out for all the world to see.
{Also, I am the 99%. Sorry, I couldn't help myself!}
"If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?" Alice In Wonderland
The other reason I chose the Wonderland reference was because I tend to become consumed by things and can literally lose hours of my life chasing them down rabbit holes. Ironically, 2011 introduced me to the equivalent of crack for a habit like this, Pinterest, thus making my "falling" all the more enjoyable. Because my two great passions in life have anyways been Politics & Pop Culture, it's no surprise I posted commentary here following the State of the Union, various awards shows & even the Casey Anthony trial. I don't think I ever expected to start an actual conversation (although, sometimes it did), mostly, I just wanted to record my thoughts & feelings in the moment, when they were their strongest.
In 2012, my goal is to post twice as much as I did this year, but I don't plan to change my reasons for blogging; it will continue to be an outlet to share my life and my opinions with those who chose to venture down my rabbit hole. You might not always agree with me, but in the end, you should always know that I am mature enough to keep an open mind and will hear you out if you chose to challenge me on something that I post. In that same vein, not everything I post will interest you. That's okay too! Just don't give up on me if you aren't interested or disagree with a single post. Finally, because of my new enabler, Pinterest, I have discovered things that should be shared with my friends & family in a broader scope than simply posting them to a board with an ironic name. Assuming I can keep up with it, I plan to do a weekly post with just my favorite finds of the week. {for my blogger friends who are already doing a version of this, please take it as a compliment that I want to do this too & not that I am attempting to copycat or bandwagon your ideas - my post will be entirely compiled of things I find and if one of those things is found on your blog, believe me, you'll get the credit you deserve!}
Now, there's only one thing left before I close the books on 2011...
My thoughts on the year that was Pop Culture 2011:
Top 5 New TV Shows:
1) Revenge (abc)
2) American Horror Story (fx)
3) Hart of Dixie (cw)
4) Once Upon A Time (abc)
5) {tie}
Ringer (cw)
The Lying Game (abc family)
5 Favorite Returning Series:
1) The Good Wife (cbs)
2) The Vampire Diaries (cw)
3) Pretty Little Liars (abc family)
4) {tie}
Glee (fox)
Modern Family (abc)
5) {tie}
Grey's Anatomy (abc)
Private Practice (abc)
Top 5 News Makers:
1) The Royal Wedding: Prince William, Kate Middleton & all things Pippa
2) The Occupy Wall Street Movement
3) The Casey Anthony Trial
4) Political Scandals & Partisan Politics, i.e. Weinergate, Herman Cain, Gridlock on the Hill
5) The Passing of Steve Jobs (aka: iSad)
Top 5 Albums:
1) 21 - Adele
2) Speak Now - Taylor Swift
3) Live at Benaroya Hall with the Seattle Symphony - Brandi Carlile
4) Teenage Dream - Katy Perry
5) Lights - Ellie Goulding
5 Most Played Tracks (according to my iPad & iPod play counts)
1) Someone Like You - Adele
2) Long Live & Better Than Revenge - Taylor Swift
3) Turn To Stone - Ingrid Michaelson
4) Gravity - Sara Bareilles
5) Twice - Little Dragon
I won't be posting lists for Books or Movies because I simply don't have a basis to list the top 5 of either. Since I spend my free time watching TV & cruising Pinterest, I don't see a lot of films. I did catch a few in the theatres this year, and by far, the best of them was Bridesmaids, I don't feel my experience with movies in 2011 merits a list.
Similarly, I started nearly a dozen books in 2011, but at this time, I've only finished 3 or 4 of them. I don't believe in resolutions, but one of my goals in 2012 is to finish all the books I've started and then only try to conquer one at a time.
Fun Fact: While finishing Game Change (I can't wait to see the HBO movie versionnext year!!) I felt the need to read Going Rouge by Sarah Palin. I went to my local library and checked it out, so as not to contribute to the fincial gain of the Palin family, and I read it cover to cover in the span of one weekend. I was relieved upon finishing the book to realize my feelings and assumptions about the person were still the same, if not even more cemented.
The other books I started this year were primarily biographies; I'm still reading Audition (Barbara Walters, been working on this one for nearly 5 years!), I've started 3 different books about Kate Middleton & the Royal Wedding/Couple, the Christina Haag biography about her relationship with JFK Jr "Come To The Edge" (thanks Kate S.!) and I got the Steve Jobs biography & Steven King's "11/22/63" for Christmas, so I shouldn't complain about not having anything to read in 2012!
To date, the Rabbit Hole has had 2,999 visitors; for something that I created as a place to share the thoughts I usually reserved for silent conversation in my head, I couldn't be more surprised by this number! Here's to 2012 and the hope that life will give me plenty of good material for even more tumbles down!
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