2017 was an unbelievable year, a self-induced jolt after a good 2016 and a rocky 2015 before that.

It’s helpful to provide a bit of backstory in order to best illustrate the greatness of 2017. In early 2015, I moved to the Bay area from New York. This was for two reasons: to join a new company, and to start over after a painful breakup. I spent most of that year heads down in work.

I had few friends in San Francisco, and was acclimating to life in the Bay Area. I was processing the break-up, and healing from a physical injury that made it difficult to participate in sports.

Prior, while in New York I had started a novel, and made the call in 2015 to finish it. I hired a life coach to get organized, and together we created spreadsheets. Many, many spreadsheets – mostly to track and optimize my time (was I actually doing my physical therapy?). Also, to measure my writing process.

I started taking better care of myself that year and built a stable base to operate from. Not that my life was in shambles before all of this happened, but it sure helped to gain some clarity, direction and focus.

In early 2016, my writing system was in place and running at full speed. I began dating someone with the unusual accessory of ten housemates.  They all lived together in an old Victorian house in the heart of the Haight.

Despite my many particularities I grew to be very happy spending time there, especially when I got laid off from my job at the startup that summer.  A few months after that, my marketing consultancy was launched from the kitchen table of that San Francisco commune.

Starting with a bang

One of the best days of my life was the day of Women’s March 2017. My consultancy was running at top-speed, and I had been working on creating stronger friendships with other women. The march felt like the epitome of that sort of bond. Of many things, I am beyond grateful for female friendships – even if I am notoriously a low-maintenance friend or the lesser-seen INTJ of the bunch.

In February I joined an all-female accountability group and led a bi-weekly mastermind. I met my amazing boyfriend at a barbeque in the Mission, and we’ll be celebrating our one-year anniversary soon.

In March, thanks to the encouragement of my accountability group, I traveled to Japan. I lived in Tokyo’s Akasaka neighborhood for one month where I also worked on my freelance business. I worked during the day and explored the city at night. I was still working on my novel, and soon began to see the finish line.

After the novel

Three years after starting the book, I finally emerged holding an eighty-two thousand word tome high in my hands.

After polishing off the last sentence I walked to the local coffee shop and treated myself to a coconut-milk latte and some sea salt popcorn. I was tired, as though I had been running a marathon for three years while simultaneously giving birth. Now I haven’t done either of those things, especially not at the same time, but at least now I had tiny ideas about how to maybe write about them.

The book may or may not see the light of day. (I would hate to foist it upon any of you!) What I do understand now though is how to write fiction. It’s a wild and messy process, and for the most part one giant emotional train-wreck. I’m addicted.

When it came to the freelance business, I was either panicking about money or trying to find focused blocks of time in order to do the work. I was in hustle mode for most of 2017 – trying to make ends meet, taking on anything I could.

I wanted to generate enough income to split my time equally between client work and writing. It was stressful, so I was happy when in September one of my favorite clients offered me a position in-house.

I understand my mission as a baby fiction writer, and launching a writing career is tough. That is especially true here in the Bay Area where the cost of living is high.

The happy news is that company I’m working for fulfills another great passion of mine – energy conservation. At Matrix Industries we’re working hard to reduce waste heat, and that feels good.

The Journey continues

Last fall I traveled to Germany, Switzerland, Japan, and Hong Kong for work. I would’ve made it to China, but I didn’t understand that I had to acquire a travel visa first. All in all, I spent over sixty-five hours in the air in November.

In December, I made it to two holiday parties before flying home to Ohio to close out the year with family. I was physically exhausted from all of the traveling, and mentally drained from the work.

Looking ahead

I was uncomfortable for most of 2017 and pushed myself hard. The benefit was that I became more resilient, a trend I’ve observed the more that I do this. If there’s one thing I’ve discovered, it’s that this sense of purpose – paired with an understanding of self – has made me happier than I’ve ever been.

The keyword for last year was magic. I’ve coined 2018 as the year of service. I’d like to be brave enough to consistently rock this brave little boat that I’m on, and a lot of that starts here.

We are going to be offering more on this blog in 2018. We’ll cover topics ranging from wellness to emergent technology and everything in-between. I hope that you’ll join us for the journey.