1.What did you do in 2014 that you'd never done before?
Sadly I had to visit an intensive care unit which I’d only previously seen in the media. However in brighter thoughts this year was also the first time I made a gingerbread house from scratch all by myself.
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don’t make resolutions anymore however this year I do feel I need to recommit to the “seek joy” manifesto and am still endeavoring to make positive changes where I can.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes a friend had a little girl in December. Also my sis-in-law’s brother and his fiance had a very adorable little boy Piran on New Years Eve 2013 so technically last year but it was after I’d already posted last years so I’m going to include it here.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, thank God
5. What countries did you visit?
No new countries in 2014
6. What would you like to have in 2015 that you lacked in 2014?
I'd like to have more of a sense of excitement and enthusiasm, both of which seemed in shorter supply than usual in 2014.
7. What dates from 2014 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Honestly speaking, there are a couple of notable dates that spring to my mind on reading this question but I’m choosing not to record them here and instead to focus on the positive.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
9. What was your biggest failure?
That I didn’t quite manage to do as many of the nice/silly/lovely little things that I wanted to do for /send to people this year.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Nothing major, [I seemed to catch a few more severe than normal colds – stress immune]
11. What was the best thing you bought?
My travel mug-it was just a cheap one in monetary terms but it has proved itself invaluable.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
My friends who are wonderful every year but have been so marvelous this year and offered me unconditional support during some dark moments.
13. Whose behaviour made you depressed?
Recently I was saddened to read and see my hometown pop up in the national news, yet again for something grim. This time it was human trafficking offences, following a raid on a factory where eastern European staff were working 80-hour weeks and being paid less that two pounds an hour.
14. Where did most of your money go? The usual life stuff but also on plans for exciting adventures next year- accomodation for a hen do and then a couple of weddings in 2015
15. What events did you get really, really, really excited about?
My mum coming out of hospital and a couple of my friends getting engaged
16. What song will always remind you of 2014?
As with previous years the songs I seem to associate most with each year are the major earworms that get lots of radio airplay and thus become inescapable so this year that was: Happy by Pharrell Williams and Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off”
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i.happier or sadder?
ii.thinner or fatter? Fatter (I can already see before me the long bony finger of the Spirit of New Year Diets beckoning me forth)
iii.richer or poorer? Poorer and how
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
more connecting with friends and celebrating the small things. Oh and probably more purging of clutter both literal and metaphorical.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
To paraphrase a Jason Mraz lyric – running around, pulling on my threads and breaking myself up.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
I had a lovely quiet family christmas
21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?
Skyping with Little Man and Little Diva (my gorgeous nephew and neice)
22. Did you fall in love in 2014?
23. How many one-night stands? None.
24. What was your favourite TV programme?
I enjoyed ‘Grantchester’ and though I admit it was a bit creaky in places and is perhaps not the best adaptation of Dumas’ yarn I enjoyed BBC’s spirited ‘The Musketeers’. I can’t in all honesty call ‘Happy Valley’ a favourite but I admit it was gripping and thought provoking.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I hate this question, I refer you to my answer on previous years but it’s still true- I try not to hate anyone
26. What was the best book you read?
Without a doubt the best book I read this year was ‘The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry’ by Rachel Joyce
27. What was your greatest musical discovery or rediscovery?
Erm, I’m not sure there were many discoveries this year. I spent a large part of the early year comfort-listening to comfort music.
28. What did you want and get?
The news that my friends Cochlear operation had gone really well and witnessing lots of exciting updates as she discovered new sounds.
29. What did you want and not get?
A year without any emergency trips to hospitals. Nonetheless, those broken moments helped shape me into the person that I am today and taught me things I don’t think I’d have learnt otherwise.
30. What were your favourite films of this year?
As far as I can remember I only saw two films at the cinema this year- One was ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ and the other was ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part one” whilst I enjoyed both films I couldn’t really describe either of them as particularly my favourite.
31. What did you do on your birthday?
My birthday was a quiet one this year though I did have a lovely meal with some family- just between you and I reader I was having a bit of a wobble at not having achieved many of those (made up) milestones and societal rites of passage. There’s seems to be a certain expectation that it’s ok to be figuring things out in your twenties but by thirty you should have your life together and by that reckoning it seemed terrifying how little time I have left. I know reader that it was ridiculous and I know, wise as you are reader, that you know that too but just to reaffirm- That cliché about life being a journey? It’s so true and we don’t all take the same trip. If you feel lost or confused or even plain old cheesed off sometimes and need to take stock of life that’s ok and perfectly normal. In the words of comedian Jason Manford “just because you're struggling, doesn't mean you're failing”.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Bernard’s watch
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2014?
An afterthought.
34. What kept you sane?
Prayer
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most/least in 2014?
All the usual suspects
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
There wasn’t one particular thing, lots of things had me concerned this year. Close to home- the Scottish Referendum- not the ref itself but the anger, fear and hatred it stirred up on both sides of the debate. Further afield- Black lives matter. They do. Everyone’s lives matter. Ukraine ISIS and the persecution of Iraqi Christians
37. Whom did you miss?
All sorts of people for many different reasons
38. Who was the best new person you met?
Several doctors, nurses and anesthetists who literally saved my mum’s life and who showed so much care and compassion not just to my mum as the patient but also to us as her family.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2014:
This isn’t so much a new lesson I learnt in 2014 but more a deepening of an old lesson I’ve been trying to work on- Flexibility
I’m a planner. I plan everything. Life isn’t some linear story plot though. No ticky list or amount of sitting imagining all the possible conclusions though could have predicted so many of the events that happened this year or some of my reactions to them. Not everything has to get done right now and sometimes things will change in a way you wont expect that might change or totally change that end solution you were working towards. That’s ok, crumbled visions and unfinished words can be OK because so many of those moments will lead to another new beginning. However I’ve also learnt that it’s OK too to struggle with that too. It’s OK that sometimes it makes me want to curl into a ball and roll back to safety.
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