It’s funny, I have a bunch of draft posts in here ranging from partially to mostly written, and I haven’t bothered to share them. I know the truth and reality, and the people closest to me also know. I’d venture a guess anyone involved also knows the truth even if they are not truthful people by nurture or nature but that’s not any of my business and certainly not my problem or responsibility. And as such, I’ve spent the start of 2025 living up to every single one of my commitments to myself.

Some may say that’s easier said than done, but it’s really just a matter of personal responsibility, integrity, and being as honest to yourself as you claim to be (and in that case then therefore are) to everyone else. In that context, it’s easy because it’s just who you are, and that is exactly who I am.

I’ve been reveling in all the amazing things that keep happening to me, from working just a handful of hours for the same pay, to new opportunities around almost every corner, networking challenges becoming successes, past burdens turning into freedoms, and a circle of colleagues and friends that I am proud to call family.

And family. There’s that, isn’t there…and I have to say the second half of 2024 and onwards has been the best I have ever had with mine! Time with my brother and his fiancée and my two nephews filled with smiles and laughs. Time with my sister and her now-husband in person all the way from New Zealand. A better relationship with my mother. And for the first time in over a decade, me and my siblings together on the mainland, and together for the first time since Nov 2019 in Hawaii which feels like a lifetime ago. In many ways, it was.

Today I took myself out on a date. It was amazing! I saw Mufasa a few weeks ago with one of my best friends at the local (and very nice) Hurleyville Performing Arts Center and it was incredible, but just a few minutes in I realized it was cinematography that would absolutely be worth seeing in IMAX 3D (we saw it in regular 2D). We planned on going next weekend when we all go to iFly because the IMAX in Palisades is the largest in the region but when I went to book tickets yesterday it became apparent that this week was the last week Mufasa was in IMAX, and the only place it was still in IMAX 3D was in Albany at 2:30 Wed and Thurs, and Thurs I had a networking event at 5. No way I could do both in the same day.

My New Year’s resolution to myself was to stop working 60h work weeks for free, so I spent some time reviewing budgets and spreadsheets, client info, and so on and let the team know that I’d be working the hours I was paid, plus several additional hours to support the agency together at events and networking. However, since I have always said I hate sales, and I’ve spent several years pushing a rather large boulder uphill without help to close almost no sales (we had a few that for operational reasons couldn’t continue as long as we all had hoped), I needed to change. This was the year to stop playing Indiana Jones dodging boulders that I had pushed partway uphill to find that there was no where to go but to get burnt out. I stopped. Between that and a few other spectacular life changes, suddenly I had time to be ME again!

The me that loves to hike, ride horses, snowboard, explore new towns and areas and restaurants with friends who also like the outdoors and adventures. No tie downs to worry about who was okay or not, how was everyone else doing mentally / financially / emotionally. It was time to take care of me.

On a whim, I bought a ticket to see Mufasa in IMAX 3D over 2h away at 2:30 in the afternoon in the middle of the week. And I went. I made great coffee, a Yeti of tea, and filled a thermos of tea for the drive home and yes, they all stayed hot. I am still drinking the tea from the thermos I made at 11AM in my Yeti right now at 8pm! I drove backroads and highways and blasted music and called no one and sang loudly (and often I’m sure badly) in the car. I had amazing tacos and a spicy margarita. I got a second and poured it into a to-go cup and snuck it into the theater. I ordered popcorn and put on my 3D glasses as I sank into my perfect seat smack in the middle of the IMAX theater that had just a few other people there and watched the previews.

GUYS THEY ARE MAKING A LIVE ACTION + CGI HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON SPECIFICALLY FOR IMAX 3D! I got so excited I took a photo of the screen and texted my friends. (No flash, I am not that asshole! Also there were only two other people in there at that point for the previews.)

And then Mufasa started. I watched in wonder from the opening credits til the very end even though I had already seen it and knew the plot. The 4k clarity was unreal. The 3D made it literally come off the screen. And the IMAX experience was absolutely worth it! I was not just watching, I was experiencing all of it in away that was awe-inspiring but also actually inspirational in and of itself. It made me want to go out and do more stuff that most people would call crazy. Stuff like driving 2h each way by myself for some tacos and a movie.

Hiking in 20º on the Shawangunk Ridge on a windy day for over 2h. Going out with the dogs for 3 miles in 15º. Going new places. Meeting new people. Trying new things.

You see, life IS what you make of it. If you’re feeling stuck, MOVE! If you’re feeling down, DO something. If you’re feeling bored, CREATE something. Read. Learn. Experience. LIVE!

I didn’t realize just how much I hadn’t been living and instead had just been supporting others and helping them see what was inside them. Like Rafiki says to Mufasa, you are so good at seeing in others that which you cannot see in yourself and realized I have been guilty for a very long time of the very same thing.

It’s okay, I see it now. And it feels amazing to be back to life and really living! Who’s riding dragons with me next? Let’s go!