thank goodness 2009 is over

...Although of course there were many very nice things that happened in 2009, as with every year. Just last night I spent a lot of time organizing the photograph albums of 2009 and running through that "Oh wow--that was so wonderful!" sentimentality that one always feels when going through old pictures. What I especially remember was a couple of--again!--perspective-altering trips, most notably one to Japan at the beginning of summer that just completely rocked my world view. Or rather--it didn't CHANGE it (not in the way that my perspective has been changed now by what has recently happened to me), but it awakened me to the realization that our western viewpoint and our western traditions are not the only ones out there. There are different ways of seeing things, too. And my favorite part about being in academia is trying to see through all of them. There's just so much to read and see and learn about.

Still, I'm going to say the lingering effects of my long period of treading stagnant water were still in play, and I am very happy to feel like that part of my life has ended. As I read over my journals from my trips this year, I kept noticing residual lines of worry and stress about all those things I've mentioned before. I took them with me on vacation, and I thought about them all the time. Apparently these ugly worries just been hanging out with me constantly this past year, even in the happiest of times, when I've had the best opportunity to be able to escape and do things differently.

And so I'm going to say that the experiences of 2009 were largely good, but I am so happy to walk away from whatever that person was who got stuck in that rut, experiencing them. And I'm happy now, in 2010, to revisit the good times through photographs and to plan out the next ones, too.

And on a very positive note: I began the new year with my first attempt at a run in seven weeks. I managed to do 1/2 mile of running, then another 1/2 mile walking back again, for a total of a half hour's worth of aerobic activity. That's not too bad for just starting out? Yes, the right side of my body is still completely numb, and I did all this by concentrating mightily and ignoring the lack of sensation in my right foot. But if this numbness is here to stay for a while, then I'm just going to have to get used to it--and I'm more than ready to move on.

And so too is the rest of the world, it seems. At least, so the cosmos would indicate. This is a picture of the first sunset of the next decade. This morning's sunrise was pretty spectacular, too.