A tad late, I know, but 2008 was a trying year for me - I met some great people, was partly given/partly created some brilliant opportunities, had a few adventures, but was also presented with what at times seemed like unnecessary and unsurmountable challenges - so I needed a bit of a break before summing up the year past and welcoming the new one.
What pulled me through the rough patches was, to a large extent, this blog, or rather the funny, irreverent, insightful, thought-provoking comments and links it spurred - in other words: you guys and gals - and all the great friends I'm blessed with. Now, when I suggested in this post that social media can be of great help in turbulent times Adriana, who kicked me into the blogosphere in the first place by setting up this blog for me as a gift in 2005, pointed out that what I really was saying was that people were of great comfort at such times, not social media.
I still think social media makes a huge difference, though perhaps it would have been more precise to say the ambient intimacy social media offers/facilitates is what makes the difference, to use a term coined by Lisa Reichelt (in short, ambient intimacy is about being able to keep in touch with people with a level of regularity and intimacy that you wouldn't usually have access to, because time and space conspire to make it impossible).
Anyway, I wish you all much joy and success in the year ahead of us. This is what coming from 2008 to 2009 looks like to me right now. The first photo is from a lovely winter day in the forest at Tranby (more here):
This shot is from Corntin Bay, Stavern, today:
And like Duke, pictured below, I'll definently be scouting for new opportunities in 2009, albeit of a slightly different nature than him (I've also got a few interesting projects up my sleeve which I'll return to shortly):
Happy New Year, Kristine.
(I'm a bit late, too, in getting out my well wishes.)
The photos are beautiful. That's a fine looking dog you've got.
Posted by: delmer | January 06, 2009 at 03:10 PM
Unfortunately, it's not my dog. My mum just looked after him for the weekend. I'm dying to have a dog again, or two - not suprisingly (since I owe my life to one) I love dogs - but it's just incompatible with my lifestyle: I work and travel too much.
I have a dream one day I'll settle down somewhere in the White Mountains of New Hampshire to write and have several dogs, horses etc (I worked as a riding teacher in my teens and used to reschool problem horses). Not that I've ever been to New Hampshire, just seen pictures + it's so conveniently located: short trip into Boston, a bit longer to New York, when I miss city life too much. Short way to a decent airport: isolated but not so much the adventurer will panick. Not that I've been to New York or Boston either, mind you, need more money and time - but don't we all. Perhaps in 2009 I'll get an assignment or two, or a job, that will take me to these places...
Posted by: Kristine | January 06, 2009 at 05:10 PM