A Year About Regaining Balance

January 1, 2020 • 9:38 PM

For me, the year of 2019 is about regaining balance — balance I’ve lost since the jump back to Beijing in 2017, and in 2018, the move back to Vancouver with clarity of what I want of my life. I’ve phrased my decisions in very different ways and described them to many different people, and I’ve only got compliments that I was brave and dared to try things. It was not until this year that I was able to look back and agree. Without that experience, my current life might have been fast-tracked by a year or two, but I would not have learned when to settle.

I’ve tried a few things this year. Quite small things. I learned to snowboard over the season (during fun-employment). I haven’t learned any new physical skills since forever, and it was revealing to observe how my body learns and adapts and recovers and improves. There’s the new Version 2.0 of my bestselling app with my amateur-but-somehow-successful tech transition. Around May and June, we furnished a new home from scratch. There were some quite daunting decisions and it was both horrifying and relieving to PIN my credit card for $4,000 of furniture. It was such a load off my mind we went straight to the bar next door — that was when I couldn’t stop giggling over the sex-on-the-beach I had. In the summer I’ve done weekly Grouse Grinds with him, and it had been surprisingly pleasant — we talked about things we wouldn’t have, and explored a few great diners in North Vancouver that we wouldn’t have been to. We did the Panorama Ridge trail in August — a close stretch for me (2,700 kCal a day smh) but we’ve finally done it after talking about it just over a year. There’s the September trip to California that made me miss doing 13 roller coasters a day. In November I tried writing something or anything at least once a day — quite a nice X-Ray to what’s on my mind 24/7.

I’ve said goodbye to a few friends and met a dozen new ones. (Maybe one of you is reading this right now — Hi!) It’s a year a lot about getting to know the city I live in, the person I live with, and the people that I’m around. I’ve learned to appreciate more of his passion, and understand how his characters complement mine. I’ve made friends out of strangers — quite a few of them.

I can’t wait to see what 2020 holds.