Reflecting on 2008

2008 had a couple of pretty traumatic events. In March, my stress and unhappiness at work proved to be too much. I took a six-week leave of absence, returning for the last three weeks of the year, and returning to start the 2008-2009 school year in August. On September 6th, however, I quit. Bastante. Enough. The weeks leading up to my leave of absence were...dark and harrowing. The decision to finally quit was extremely difficult, and the jury is still out on whether or not it was the right thing to do...

But there were amazing joys in 2008 that far outweigh the memory of those dark days.

I directed my first ever adult play, "Run for Your Wife". AND my second, "Rumors", and started a third, "The Odd Couple". Terrific learning experiences. Friends I will have for life. So much joy. My life is forever changed, and so much richer, for the CrazyLake Acting Company.

I traveled with friends and family, spending time at the Great Wolf Lodge in Cincinnati, a glorious ten days at Disney World, a peaceful time at the Lake, a story-worthy trip to Holiday World, communing with nature at Turkey Run, and of course, most recently, our Christmas trip to Mall of America.

I became an active partner in the CrazyLake Art House. I'm a business owner. A part of the Greenfield Downtown Development project in a gorgeous building full of interesting and wonderful people.

I went to GenCon with my boys and some friends and had a fabulous time. It deserves more than just one sentence, but how can you 'summarize' GenCon?

In 2008, I loved my family--and my friends, and this beautiful country of ours. I loved music, and poetry, and art, and theatre. God, yes, theatre. I loved creating on the stage, and with fabric and paper and technology. I loved reading and following the political race and crossword puzzles, and hot chocolate, and YouTube, and movies, and playing games.

I could go on, but my point is that for all the darkness of this year--in journal entries that should never see the light of day, and the horrors of the inner city schools, and concerns about money and the environment--the joy and happiness far outshines all of that as the sun outshines the moon.

I thank God for giving me the strength to get through the dark times and for the joy I find in living, for the opportunity to share the gifts I've been given, and for my optimistic fictional view of the world. What dark times am I talking about? I don't remember. It's good. It's all good.