See ya, 2016.

I should have just gone to bed the night before I flew back to Minnesota for Christmas Vacation. Instead, I read through my journal for 2016 and then I spent the whole night digesting every thought I had over the course of the year and got ZERO sleep.

Sometimes it feels silly to have a journal. It feels like I'm reverting back to the 6th grade girl who writes about the boy she likes and the fight she had with her dad. But mostly, it's a great way to remind myself of my experiences and my feeling about those experiences.

My journal is filled with memories, ideas, quotes from books, tidbits from conversations with the people I love the most, lists, and life plans. Much like running, writing things down helps me try to understand life. (Way cliche, but way true.)

As I reflected on this year, I relived my feelings. My heart hurt thinking about my most recent heartbreak, but it also swelled with joy as I read the list of people who helped me through it. I remembered the incredible places I traveled to and the people I explored these places with. In times of darkness, I leaned on my friends and when I read their encouraging words I feel their support all over again and I am reminded that I am not alone.

I am constantly thankful for everything that I get to experience: The places I see, the books I read, the people I am surrounded by, the students I spend my days with. And I am thankful that I have the ability to write it all down to help me remember and reflect year after year.

Although 2016 forced me to come to terms with the fact that this world is not as beautiful as I sometimes think it is, it was still a great year for me. I'm not naive enough to think that things will get better in the world, but I know that we can focus on the good things that happen in our own lives. And I know that I can sum up how I feel about this year and life in general with a quote by the author Jhumpa Lahiri that I found buried in my journal from sometime in February:

"Still, there are times I am bewildered by each mile I have traveled, each meal I have eaten, each person I have known, each room in which I have slept. As ordinary as it all appears, there are times when it is beyond my imagination."
- Jhumpa Lahiri

As ordinary as the years seem to be, they are still quite amazing.


On a somewhat related note, here are my top book recommendations from this year:
Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed
Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
Yes Please by Amy Poehler
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann (This is actually my go to recommendation every year since 2011)