{"id":3574,"date":"2014-12-31T10:59:24","date_gmt":"2014-12-31T18:59:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/?p=3574"},"modified":"2014-12-31T17:12:46","modified_gmt":"2015-01-01T01:12:46","slug":"riding-the-rollercoaster-in-to-2015-victoria-12312014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/?p=3574","title":{"rendered":"Riding the Roller-coaster into 2015 \u2013 Victoria \u2013 [12\/31\/2014]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"1def2f2b15a8cdce_kiss.xxxlarge_0<\/a>So long 2014, it\u2019s been a slice.<\/p>\n

I always try not to look at the bad parts of a year, every year has its highlights and lowlights after all, and its\u2019 not the year\u2019s fault what happened in it; or what choices we made in those 365 days. That\u2019s all on us, for the most part.<\/p>\n

2014 has treated me neither better nor worse than any other set of 525,600 minutes. That\u2019s not to say it wasn\u2019t a roller coaster. It was, and it was far from always easy. It contained one of the most stressful contracts of my career, a huge job re-definition, the loss of a manager I\u2019d had for nearly my whole time at sea \u2013 all of which led to a series of deep thinking sessions on my future that I still haven\u2019t fully embraced the ramifications of (don\u2019t worry, the sea isn\u2019t giving me up yet, that much is certain for quite some time). 2014 taught me that love can blossom in the strangest places, out of the strangest situations, and that if you don\u2019t face that oncoming storm (because yes, it is a storm sometimes), head on then it\u2019s probably just going to sweep you off your feet anyway so you might as well just grab a parachute and ride the thermal currents.<\/p>\n

I lost friends, I gained friends, I reconnected with friends I thought I\u2019d lost. I read too many books, published one, drafted another. I broke at least one pair of shoes, I discovered that 20+ years as a dancer finally caught up with my feet and that I\u2019m now going to be able to tell you when it\u2019s going to rain as a result.<\/p>\n

For the first time in several years I\u2019m not on show tonight, I\u2019m not dancing the night away with elderly Prince Charming\u2019s in a ballroom that will be gone like magic the very next day. I\u2019m at home, where I can\u2019t help but feel that I belong after the rollercoaster that has been this year. I\u2019m taking quiet joy in pressing my own personal \u201creset\u201d button (in some things), and welcoming in the new year quietly \u2013 like an old friend that I just haven\u2019t met yet.<\/p>\n

As I said to Amras when he called me in the wee hours of this morning (which were the evening hours leading into the New Year\u2019s dance for him due to the crazy time difference between us at the moment\u2026and the fact that he would be playing at midnight): the New Year is a road none of us can see the end of, we don\u2019t know what it will bring or where it will lead. It\u2019s a train without a destination and a million drivers influenced by a million difference second chances every day. Life is, indeed, a poker game where the dealer simply smiles all the time.<\/p>\n

But that doesn\u2019t make it scary, it at times makes it terrifying, exhilarating, light-hearted, mysterious, depressing, intoxicating\u2026and all kinds of other things.<\/p>\n

2014 brought me wonder, and terror, and pain, and joy and a fair few tears made up of everything combined. As always, I let it go with love and admiration and a sense of at least attempting to forgive myself for the things I didn\u2019t get quite right\u2026and a sense of giving the world another chance for the things it<\/em> didn\u2019t get quite right.<\/p>\n

Step right up ladies and gentleman, 2015 promises to be just as crazy\u2026<\/p>\n

Be safe, be happy, be kind (to yourself and others), but mostly? We\u2019ve all paid for our tickets to this carnival\u2026sit back, relax\u2026and enjoy the ride.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So long 2014, it\u2019s been a slice. I always try not to look at the bad parts of a year, every year has its highlights and lowlights after all, and its\u2019 not the year\u2019s fault what happened in it; or … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,17,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-below-the-waterline","category-reflections-below-the-waterline","category-vacation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3GtNE-VE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3574"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3579,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3574\/revisions\/3579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}