Stability is Sexy: Welcoming in 2015

2015 is just days away and it’s a good time to reflect on what got us to this moment. 2014 is, on record, the best year of my life. Traveling and living all over the globe for the first five months and then returning to Cleveland in May set a different trajectory for what would happen next. And while I returned to doing the same things, the woman doing these things was no longer the same person.

After my journey, lots freed up within me. 80% of the things I used to react to just no longer matter. Yet the 20% of the people and things that remained now hold much more value and therefore, I’m far more protective of them. Overall, I’m far more protective of my life because this year finally signaled to me what it’s worth. I finally know who I am. And anyone who doesn’t recognize that and won’t accept me as I am simply doesn’t belong.

With 2015 just around the corner, I’ve been thinking about what else can be different? As much as I’d love to spend yet another February in Dublin, chances are I’ll be here, in Cleveland during my birth month. And I’m not complaining. The 216 is on fire. In the best possible way. The restaurants, the museums, the Cavs. The energy is exciting and it’s exciting to be part of it.

2014 has been nothing less than thrilling and the risks I took weren’t for everyone. Some folks have all kinds of responsibilities that keep them grounded. Some of those by choice and some by circumstance. For me, freedom in spirit ensures that a new adventure is always around the corner. It’s what keeps things moving forward. It’s motivation.

I’m beyond grateful for 2014 and as we leave this year, there’s nothing but goodness in my heart for all of it. And not because there was no heartache – because there was – but because given all the deltas of the past 12 months, how I dealt with life’s disappointments this year has cost me less of my emotional self then ever before. This isn’t random. This is what happens when you give up everything, regroup your internal wiring and carry on with the dignity and grace of a forgiving and healing human.

When you adjust yourself and your POV, you allow those messages that have been knocking for some time, but those you couldn’t hear, because of all the other noise, to finally present themselves. This year I shut off a whole lotta noise. And, the surprising discovery that I have recently made for myself is that the theme that will matter most for 2015 is stability.

Stability is sexy. It’s mysterious. It’s rewarding. I have big goals for next year, in my professional, creative and personal life. And it’s only with determined discipline and calculated consistency that these goals will manifest.

Now, of course, what stability will look like for an Aquarian free spirit creative soul is probably not what it looks like for most. Perhaps within one or two standard deviations? In no way do I foresee a life of complacency or predictability. I’m not very good at being comfortable for too long. Discomfort, uncertainly and struggle all result from when we grow and change and get on with whatever’s next.

Yet the stability vs. uncertainly ratio must tip its scales in favor of more life bonds and fewer stocks. 2014 was all about the Beta. 2015 is about mitigating that risk in my favor and to providing myself with the stable platform that, even during life’s unforeseen circumstances, will remain grounded. Unshaken. Still standing. So even when I fall, and fall I do, the support will still be there.

It’s an exciting time to take in all that I made happen over the last 51 weeks, realizing that at each step the Universe conspired with me and that wonderful people believed in the adventure and stretched out their hands to help along the way. It’s an exciting time to let go of whatever and whomever no longer fills life’s space and time with positivity and goodness and love and to be grateful for the lessons that the past showed.

It’s an exciting time to be saying goodbye to the sunset of 2014 and to welcoming the dawn of the New Year. And to open to the energy, the doors, the mind and the heart to the unknown: people, places and things that aren’t currently on the radar. If there’s one thing I know for sure it’s the following words, written at the closing of a poem that showed up one night back in August:

Whatever plan you got for Love

Love’s plan for you is much bigger.

I must trust these words. More importantly, the greatest gift I gave myself this year is learning to trust myself. And that is what’s made all the difference.

I’m ready for you, 2015. Let’s rock this thing.