Year In Review: Ever Forward Edition

Happy Almost New Year, Friends!

In preparing to write a reflection on a year as it comes to a close, I have often looked back at the photos I've taken.  In doing this, I get to watch how the emotions I have while looking back on a year can contradict and resonate with the things I found noteworthy enough over the course of the last twelve months that I photographed them.

Emotionally, this year was a slog.  The path from the beginning of the year to now included coming to the end of the process of trying my best to create a life that worked for me in our Previous City, determining that was not possible, then creating and embarking upon the path that led us to our New Home.  I am so grateful to be here, where I can finally deeply root myself.  I am still adjusting to the beautiful shock of: this really is my life now.  It is so good that this change came into fruition, and it was not easy making it happen.  I'm still releasing the tension and strain that this change required, as well as the sadness and frustration that are a natural consequence of trying to make myself grow in unyielding soil.

Then, in looking back at the year in photos, there are so many glowing things that happened this year.  They signal little oases, desperately needed respites in a long journey.  They remind me that along the way, there were many little eddies in the stream where I could take a breath.  For annoying technical reasons those photos aren't currently available for me to share, so you'll have to take my word for it that there is pictorial evidence these things occurred.

Abundant Demonstrations

It was extremely important to me to stay involved in demonstrating this year.  Each time it was deeply invigorating and hope-instilling.  Sadly, as last year, there were many things to show up for, including common sense firearms policy and not forcibly separating children from their parents as families seek asylum.

Great Art

My visits to museums stand out very clearly in my memory this year as nourishing and transporting yet anchoring little vacations.  I'm so grateful for the artistic and cultural institutions in this nation across several cities, including this one, this one, this one, and of course this one.

I am also grateful to now live in a city with a vibrant commitment to public art.

Vacations to Beautiful Places with Wonderful People

I have this false narrative in my mind that, because of the stress and expense of moving and changing jobs, I did not do as much traveling this year as I normally would.  This makes me sad.  However, this isn't wholly true--those travels just happened over the course of long weekends or just weekends to driveable places, as well as the occasional farther-flung trip for a wedding.  I'm hoping that Husband and I will get to take a just-us trip somewhere far away in the new year, but in the meantime we did just fine with lots of shorter trips to excellent places in 2018.

New Babies, New Marriages, and Adoptions

Some wonderful new people came into the world this year, and we were happy to celebrate the marriages of some very dear friends and family members.  We were also very lucky to make the acquaintance of a sweet little bird before we left Previous City.

I am also so thankful for our loving and extraordinarily handsome cats.  We will take a brief break from our photo hiatus to share proof of their beauty:

Excellent Food Eaten and Made

Yeah we did really well on this front.  We visited some amazing restaurants and made some incredible meals at home, including recent feasts of local seafood.

Building the Life I Want

And here I am, in my Home.  Thank goodness for places that feel like home, and for bright lights to guide us there through the darkness.

Here's to an ever brighter 2019, dear friends.  Happy New Year!

{Heart}

Operating on the "Border" Between Being Happy and Unhappy I Saw This Movie

Hi everyone!

Before 2018 ends, I'm hoping to sneak in a few quick posts to satisfy one of my lingering and as-yet-unfulfilled resolutions for this year.

Commence!

I recently saw "Border" (2018; Swedish title "Gräns"), and I'd like to tell you about it.

I was drawn to "Border" because: 

a) it's a Swedish film and I like those, and
b) it looked like a weird movie and I like those, and
c) it had very good ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, and finally
d) it was showing at one of my very favorite movie theaters in New Home and I hadn't gotten to go there since we moved, so obviously that was an emergency that needed to be immediately resolved.

Having now seen the movie, I can attest that it satisfies on these counts: it is a Swedish movie, it was at one of my favorite theaters, and I can see why it got positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes because it is definitely very weird.

At the end of the film, I had a feeling very similar to how I felt at the conclusion of "Sorry to Bother You" (2018): I am glad I saw "Border" and I'm glad it was made, but I also felt decidedly unsettled and like I needed a mental palette cleanser before heading to bed.

I do think it's worthwhile to see this movie.  Without getting too deep into spoilers (but still: spoilers alert), like "Sorry to Bother You," "Border" is its own version of a societal commentary told through reality blended with fantasy.  As a person with Swedish heritage, I was particularly interested in the utilization of Swedish folklore to construct the film's commentary, and embarked on a deep Wikipedia dive to follow up on some of the topics touched upon.  Had "Border" dwelt solely on these themes, it could have been a still-unsettling but really thought-provoking exploration of histories of attempted extermination of native peoples that would have powerful echoes in American and global audiences.  However, the film veers somewhat tangentially into ever darker territory, unfortunately muddying the waters of an already sufficiently interesting allegory.

So, while I recommend this movie, I don't think I can give it as high a rating as "Sorry to Bother You," which was excitingly weird and inventive and still managed to stick to its important central themes. 

I gave "Border" a 3.5.

{Heart}