Dec31

Good-bye and Good Riddance, 2016

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2016 has been a rough year for a lot of us.

So many cultural figures died in 2016. RIP Prince, David Bowie, Gene Wilder, Mohamed Ali, Florence Henderson, Alan Thicke, Buckwheat Zydeco, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Alan Rickman, Glen Frey, Garry Shandling, and Patty Duke, George Michael, and Carrie Fisher. (Nancy Reagan died in 2016 too, but honestly, I don’t care if she rests in peace or goes to Hell.)

On the personal front, I found a dead man in an isolated campground, and by the end of the same month, my dad was dead too.

Then the presidential election turned out the way so many of us feared, and now a hateful, crass, misogynistic bully is headed to the White House.

Of course, some nice things happened in 2016 too. Lou gave birth to a beautiful baby girl to keep her beautiful baby boy company.

Uh…that’s the only nice thing from 2016 I can come up with.

Well, I guess I should say that’s the only momentous nice thing I can come up with. Even in a bed year, smaller nice things happen all the time. I shared a campsite with a giant sequoia for over four months in 2016. I saw pileated woodpeckers (or maybe just one several times) in 2016. I visited Red  Rock Canyon in Nevada in 2016. I felt the love of friends near and far in 2016. The year wasn’t a total bust.

Starting in 1997, every ten years I have a really great year. I’m due for a great 2017, with or without Donal Trump as POTUS. Bring on the joy, 2017. Bring on the joy!

I

Things 2016 Taught Me:

My dad wasn’t invincible.

When we thought George W. Bush was the worst thing that could happen to this country, we weren’t using our imaginations.

There’s still so much hate in the United States.

I can function in a crisis.

I am capable of writing/publishing/promoting a book.

My life is full of people who love and care for me.

 

My Goals for 2017:

Turn off the damn solitaire game.

Read 75 books.

Think before I open my big mouth.

Write another book. (I currently have plans for three more.)

Treat everyone (even people who annoy me–especially people who annoy me) with kindness and compassion.

Make healthy food choices more often than not.

Move my body every day.

Please share what 2016 taught you and/or your goals for 2017 in the comments section.

 

Free clipart courtesy of http://www.webweaver.nu/clipart/new-years/2.shtml and http://www.webweaver.nu/clipart/new-years/3.shtml.
Filed under My True Life and tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

About Blaize Sun

My name is Blaize Sun. Maybe that's the name my family gave me; maybe it's not. In any case, that's the name I'm using here and now. I've been a rubber tramp for nearly a decade.I like to see places I've never seen before, and I like to visit the places I love again and again. For most of my years on the road, my primary residence was my van. For almost half of the time I was a van dweller, I was going it alone. Now I have a little travel trailer parked in a small RV park in a small desert town. I also have a minivan to travel in. When it gets too hot for me in my desert, I get in my minivan and move up in elevation to find cooler temperatures or I house sit in town in a place with air conditioning I was a work camper in a remote National Forest recreation area on a mountain for four seasons. I was a camp host and parking lot attendant for two seasons and wrote a book about my experiences called Confessions of a Work Camper: Tales from the Woods. During the last two seasons as a work camper on that mountain, I was a clerk in a campground store. I'm also a house and pet sitter, and I pick up odd jobs when I can. I'm primarily a writer, but I also create beautiful little collages; hand make hemp jewelry and warm, colorful winter hats; and use my creative and artistic skills to decorate my life and brighten the lives of others. My goal (for my writing and my life) is to be real. I don't like fake, and I don't want to share fake. I want to share my authentic thoughts and feelings. I want to give others space and permission to share their authentic selves. Sometimes I think the best way to support others is to leave them alone and allow them to be. I am more than just a rubber tramp artist. I'm fat. I'm funny. I'm flawed. I try to be kind. I'm often grouchy. I am awed by the stars in the dark desert night. I hope my writing moves people. If my writing makes someone laugh or cry or feel angry or happy or troubled or comforted, I have done my job. If my writing makes someone think and question and try a little harder, I've done my job. If my writing opens a door for someone, changes a life, I have done my job well. I hope you enjoy my blog posts, my word and pictures, the work I've done to express myself in a way others will understand. I hope you appreciate the time and energy I put into each post. I hope you will click the like button each time you like what you have read. I hope you will share posts with the people in your life. I hope you'll leave a comment and share your authentic self with me and this blog's other readers. Thank you for reading.  A writer without readers is very sad indeed.

8 Responses »

    • The problem with keeping our big mouths shut is not really being able to know if the technique is successful. How will I know if I’ve actually saved myself some grief? Sigh. I’m going to try to do it anyway.

      Happy New Year, Camilla.

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  2. One of my friends had a pretty bad year, and she said, “If next year isn’t better than this year, somebody’s gonna pay”.

    Mind you, I didn’t vote for Trump. I’ve never liked Trump. Yes, he probably is a hateful, crass, misogynistic bully. BUT…… the descriptive words used for him aren’t NEARLY as bad as the ones legitimately used on the Clinton Bitch (even by democrats). And he isn’t surrounded by a huge number of dead people, like the Clintons. A woman president would be great — but let’s get a GOOD woman, not just ANY woman.

    Reply ↓

    • I cannot in any capacity support or stomach a man who has publicly stated that he starts kissing women without permission and thinks it’s ok to grab them by the pussies. Yes, Bill Clinton is a womanizer. I don’t like him much either. But at least he knows how to keep a private thought private. And I’m no big rah, rah Hillary Clinton supporter either. But at least neither of them are constantly on Twitter spewing ridiculous vitriol. Trump is a bully, plain and simple. I have no respect for him, and I have not one single nice or positive thing to say about him.

      Reply ↓

  3. 2016 was not a bad year for us, although a lot of our appliances bit the dust and had to be replaced. But if that’s as bad as it gets, I’ve got no complaints. I hope your 2017 is better than ever.
    A dear friend of mine with cancer was “supposed” to die this year (according to original estimates when the cancer spread to the second kidney) and is still alive, and even feeling WELL, although is definitely not cured or anything. That makes 2016 a good year for me right there.

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    • Marcia, I am glad to hear 2016 was pretty good for y’all, notwithstanding the broke down appliances. Here’s hoping for an even better 2017 for all of us!

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  4. Wishing you the best in 2017 !!

    2016 wasn’t my best year, neither was 2015 nor 2014. But, I’m looking forward to reversing some personal trends in 2017 … better eating, more exercise, better attitudes, less drinking.

    One of the highlights of 2016 was reading your blog … appreciate your effort in regards to blogging. Gives me a lift and some hope into an otherwise mundane 7:30 – 5:15 five days a week existence (which I do hope to improve in 2017).

    Reply ↓

    • Thanks for your sweet comment that one of your highlights of 2016 was reading my blog! I really appreciate hearing that.

      All of your goals for 2017 sound really good and positive. I wish the best for you in 2017 too!

      Thanks for reading, Dave.

      Reply ↓

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