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it is a little weird

how the sun will still come up tomorrow

everything will be just the same as it was this morning

but today is the end

and tomorrow is the beginning

i think we need that

an end and a new beginning

a moment to step off of one merry-go-round

and hop on another. or get back on the same one

so in those few hours when we step off

we can make lists of what we did not like about 2011’s merry-go-round

and plan for which direction we would like to spin in 2012

two of my favourite bloggers Heather Armstrong and Kelly Oxford

recently posted some end-of-the-year kind of stuff that really resonated with me

Heather said in this post:

But didn’t the Mayans say we’re all going to die in 2012? If that is indeed that case, let’s rip it up next year.

Take the most outlandish bullet point on your bucket list and make it your bitch.

Base jump off Burj Khalifa. Hike Kilimanjaro.

Quit your job and move to New York because that’s what your dreams always wished you would do.

Fall into such reckless love that the pulse in your ears drowns out the nagging voice of reason.

i love that.

and Kelly’s post was about a nurse that worked in palliative care

and she wrote about her patients and that when questioned about any regrets they had

or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again.

Here are the most common five:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

This was the most common regret of all.

When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled.

Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and

had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.

It is very important to try and honour at least some of your dreams along the way.

From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late.

Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

please go read the full post – it really made me think about what should be on my list for 2012

so on that rather poignant note

i close off my last post for the very wonderful 2011

and am very much looking forward to next year

i have lots of plans hopes and dreams for 2012

i am gonna own it / make it my bitch / rip it up / no regrets / honour my dreams

amongst other more demure things like make that freakin long overdue dental appointment.

happy new year lovelies

thanks for being here

see you next year

xoxo

some photos because blog posts are boring without them

and my mom is probably having withdrawals as she has not had photos of us for a while

(a while = about 2.3 days in her world)