2016, Rear-view Mirror Edition

In 2016, I accomplished some things I am proud of (in no particular order):

I summited Wasson and Picacho Peaks, and hiked lots of other trails around Tucson– Pima and Ventana Canyons; Douglas Spring, and some trails in the Tucson Mountains.

Every full moon with a few exceptions I night-hiked with my friend Abby.

I participated in two writing workshops, Annie Guthrie’s Oracular Writing at the Poetry Center and Rae Gouirand’s ScribeLab.

I explored more of Arizona in my free time, visiting Camp Verde wine country and the erroneously named Montezuma’s Castle and Flagstaff on my summer vacation, and stayed at a cabin in the Chiricahuas with friends for my birthday

I traveled for work like I have never traveled before, visiting Austin, Portland, Seattle, Chicago, and Phoenix for various meetings and conferences.

I got a promotion and a raise.

I took a summer school class on Desert Plants and memorized the identifying traits and common and Latin names of 30 species, and still remember like 4 of them.

I curated 10 FST! shows as the chair of the storytelling committee, and performed in 3 of them.

I also told stories at Odyssey and Gridley Middle School (guess which was the tougher crowd).

I read memoir contest submissions for Kore Press.

I made friends with a group of wise and powerful women through Warrior Goddess training.

I took up a running habit in the summer that I dropped in the fall, but I think I’m going to pick it up again (I ran 1.1 miles today, so that’s a good start!).

I attended a National Lawyer’s Guild training and then volunteered as a Legal Observer at a demonstration on the U.S./Mexico border in Nogales, and at a student-led post-election rally at UA.

I attended a Black Lives Matter rally.

I supported the arts, especially locally, as much as I could by attending shows and openings and readings and plays.

I performed in the Winter Solstice show at ZUZI Dance Theatre for my second year.

I’ve compiled this list to help me remember that I’m doing good work. It doesn’t feel like enough, but it never will, so I wanted to be sure I at least can look at this list as a reminder that I’m going the right direction, but I need to keep going, and I need to be willing to speak up about the causes that matter most to me, like human rights and racial justice.

When I compile such a list of accomplishments for 2017, may it have more books that I’ve read and writing that I’ve published. May it have more concrete ways that I have committed my time and efforts to help empower others. May it have more meals cooked and trails hiked and friends I’ve held space for. More art. More love. More wholehearted creative, civic, and intellectual work.