This beautiful year started out so well. The stock market was soaring. America and its leadership were respected around the globe. The future looked promising.
Then things began to happen. Tragic things. We lost Bowie. We lost Prince. We lost John Glenn and Muhammed Ali. Debbie Reynolds died the day after her daughter Carrie Fisher passed away. Heartbreak compounded heartbreak.
Bizarre, inexplicable political events came to pass, as well. In particular, Brexit and a certain orange fellow in the West shocked our sensibilities and shook our confidence in the rationality of the voting public.
Our beautiful year was in trouble. It had faltered repeatedly in the most critical moments, leading us into a dark, dismal alternate future that we never could have thought possible.
And yet, here we are!
The Elephant In The Room
2016 was a difficult year for me personally. There were four deaths in my extended family. Two other family members were injured seriously in a terrible accident. Friends lost parents, spouses, and children.
Heartbreak compounds heartbreak.
But I did have to come to grips with an important distinction. My life is good. Many, many people are worse off than I am. So, despite the fact that my family and I have gone through some challenge, I appreciate the boundless blessings that have been bestowed upon me. I have no idea how I ended up being so wonderfully fortunate in life, and I am grateful for every wonderful moment.
A Rebuilding Year
In the sports world, when a team underperforms, management may bring in new talent (i.e. fire the old guys) knowing that it will take some time for the new roster to become competitive. This is known as a rebuilding year.
I went through a bit of a rebuilding year myself. Dissatisfied with the sound quality of my recent recording efforts, I invested a lot of time in re-mixing and re-mastering the recordings. The work is ongoing, and the results are promising, but this took away time that I could have invested in developing new material.
I went through a similar rebuilding phase with my photography. I decided to reformat my blogs and replace the old postcard sized images with larger photos in higher resolution. I'm very happy with the results, but again, it took up time that could have been spent developing new work.
Positive Experiences and Outcomes
Not all is lost, of course. I did manage to compose three concerti in 2016, short of my aspiration of five, but not a bad effort given everything else that was going on.
I developed a new technique for creating abstract photographs, and the results were quite pleasing. I photographed a beautiful and moving wedding, a day that remains one of the most memorable highlights of the entire year.
I did a bunch of writing. I managed to finish the second installment of my Horse Farm stories - all fifty-seven glorious chapters. As I dealt with emotional difficulties, both public and private, I went on a poetry-writing binge that turned out some well-received pieces.
After dealing with some health issues, I make important dietary changes. Today, I feel better than I have in decades.
I spent a lovely ten days in Mexico seeing beautiful sights, enjoying delicious meals, and soaking up an abundance of sunshine.
And I have a new job, a tough and demanding position, to be sure, but an important step up from the last place, where I felt that my talents were underutilized.
Onward and Upward
A new year beckons. 2017 will present its own set of challenges, but it will also offer limitless opportunities for meaning and fulfillment. I have a host of new projects in the works and on the drawing board. I'm looking forward to enjoying new experiences both in my home city and in destinations near and far. Ultimately, the future is what we make of it.
Happy New Year to all, and if I may share a wish that a friend offered to me earlier today, may all of your dreams come true!
Copyright © 2016 Daniel R. South
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