Reflections On 2011

As 2011 comes to a close, I'm sure most of us are looking back over the past year and analyzing it for all its moments, whether happy, sad, or just those that seem to stick in our minds for an indeterminable reason. When I look back, I see the struggles I endured in creating Birdcage Bohemia. I wanted to transform it into something big and encompassing, a place where I could explore all the creativity I had to offer. I piled ideas on top of ideas and waited eagerly for the door to burst open and let it all go spilling out into the world.
 

The year of 2011 was about recreation and construction. It was the part where you buy all the fixtures and decorate your new store. Then, you sort of stand back and see all these things you still have to work on and say, "Okay, just a little more time," because you're that kind of perfectionist who ends up being a pain in the butt to everyone around you.

Yep, I'm a pain in the butt. However, it'll pay off well. So to define 2011 for me, it was full of frustration, but it was full of that kind of excitement that comes with hope and the realization that your dreams could actually turn into something real. It was also a year of limbo, kind of floating and waiting for things to move on, and that state of mind can really drag you down. So it was good that I was able to look past it and see the picture in its entirety. I had to remind myself, yes the trees are pretty but the forest will be breathtaking once I get high enough to see it all.

I'm sure a lot of you feel the same way I do. I know many people who are headed into the real world, unsure and anxiously excited to get started. It's funny, you probably think I'm speaking of college students exhibiting the very definition of freshly scrubbed faces turned towards the sun and calling out their names so the rest can acknowledge their existence. The truth is, for every twenty-something I know, there's a thirty-something, forty-something, fifty-something, and even older, doing the same exact thing. The economy of the United States among other countries have forced us all to step back and examine life through a different viewfinder. The greatest gift a declining financial situation has brought us is the strength and the "what have I got to lose?" mentality we need to finally take that step towards our dreams.

So I'd like to thank 2011 for the tough love and the joyful experiences it gave me. I can only stand up and greet 2012 and all the new things it'll present.

Happy New Year!