I’m feeling quasi-inspired to write a year in review post. Here we are at the end of 2015..what a year!

I’m torn about how my year went. On the one hand, I had several amazing trips.  I also had some great meals, great hikes, read a bunch of good books, hung out with Louie and a few other friends, had fun with the pets. I played a bunch of fun concerts with the quartet, with Jen, and with other groups. I was in a play! I went to some parties and dinners, I ran some fun races and enjoyed challenging myself. I maxed out my IRA for the first time and met some other financial goals, putting myself in a really good place for this year, and I have good insurance (thanks Obama!).

But, this year was stressful. I let my emotions get the best of me sometimes, I compared myself to others too often, and I let myself worry too much. The pets are having health issues. I worry that I’m not working enough and that I don’t have enough friends.

By any measure my life is going really well. I guess I still just have that niggling fear that I’ve failed, that I should have a full-time job in a full-time orchestra, and that I made mistakes in the past putting my relationship in front of my career…even though today my relationship is going really well, and I often think that I’m lucky I ended up where I am in order to have met Louie when I did.

In other words, I’m probably really normal. I like to reassure myself by telling myself that most people don’t feel like they have their shit together, that I’m really normal. Don’t dissuade me of this notion!

So I’ve been giving some thought to what I want to improve and work on for the new year of 2016. I want to work on my relationships with colleagues and friends. If you are reading this, get in touch with me. Email, comment, call, facebook message, what have you. Let’s talk. Let’s do lunch. I want more people in my life. I have limited myself for a few years. I’ve let my relationships limit me. I want to do more, I want to talk to more people, I want to open more doors (and windows!) and network and find common goals and aspirations, and feel like we are all here in this world together. And of course, always, I want to make more music…I’ve made some mistakes over the years, I’ve cut some people off, I’ve cut off opportunities for various reasons. I want to build bridges and create new opportunities, I want to say hello and clink glasses together, and I want to make new friends.

And I want 2016 to be more relaxed. Another blogger I read came up with the theme of “peace” and I think I’m going to copy. To have peace to move forward, to let go, to relax, to misunderstand, to grow, and to realize that people’s outsides don’t match their insides, to calm down and not overreact, to let things go, to be okay when new stuff comes up that isn’t on my calendar, and…to realize that when people invite me to something on Monday at 5 pm it isn’t out of spite, that they don’t know my schedule, to be peaceful and realize it’s okay to say, no, I’m sorry, I can’t do it, I have to work…and to not feel like a horrible person because my work hours are slightly different than many people’s work hours. Peace.

So there you have it. My year-end wrap up. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Let’s network…I want to reconnect with old friends and meet new people and play, always I want to play the violin. I love teaching, sure, but I love playing more. That’s why I do this all. And if you are reading this, and you want to play more too, or to network, or to get to know me better or to get reacquainted, contact me! So my two goals for the year: the one word goal to rule them all, Peace, and then…network.

What are your goals for 2016? How did 2015 go for you?