Another year

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Yay, I'm back! After a solid month off to recharge over the holidays plus a smattering of internet issues to deal with, everything is fresh and new. Plus, today is my birthday. The antithesis of fresh and new, ha! No seriously, bringing in the new year always puts me in a state of self-reflection and just when I'm pulling myself together in slides the birthday which features me looking in the mirror for that bonus birthday wrinkle or figuring out how this year will be the year when I get my sh*t together. Maybe I should be glad they're so close together, get all that self-obsession over with in about a months time.....So, I'm a capricorn. In reading my astrology forecast for myself this year (that's normal, right?) things are really looking up. Straight from the source:

2014 is a Number Five year for you. Ruled by Mercury. This is a year of exploration and freedom. It's a time when exploration and reaching out to others brings opportunities. It's a good time to advertise and sell. Surprises are in store, and the routine is broken. This is a year when exciting relationships can be formed, or, if you are already in a partnership, new life is breathed into the relationship. Advice - explore, look for adventure, keep your eyes open for opportunities, mingle.

The idea of exploration and opportunities has been on my mind a lot lately. This past year I've had several friends leave to pursue other opportunities and ventures. It was bittersweet, of course, I would have a pity party for myself loosing a friend I would see on a daily basis, but then I would celebrate the fact that they were moving on to something more exciting and ideally a better fit. But lately I've realized that for years I didn't have anyone I knew at any other design firms in town, but the more people have left the more I get to meet their new friends, and I gain insight into the culture of other firms. So, although I miss them daily, broadening their experiences has helped me see that change is a positive and making the effort to maintain those friendships is important.

With that I will end with a quote that really resonated with me this birthday,

The price of anything is the amount of life that is exchanged for it.  -Henry David Thoreau

Hanging out with a friend this week, she commented that there is such little time in our everyday lives that she really has to pick and choose wisely what and who she wants to spend her time on. Always looking for the next best thing, it's easy to not spend the time fostering the relationships you have built over time. So this birthday, my greatest gift is the knowledge that I have people in my life that take me just like I am and who I can lean on and depend upon always.

So bring on the new, I can take it!!

Art source : Paris cherie