Goodbye 2017. Thank you.

https://jeffnords.tumblr.com/post/169172094577

Goodbye, 2017! And good riddance!

It was a rough year on all fronts, each front compiled online so thoroughly that I won't even seek out hyperlinks for them. The crazy thing for me is, however, how disconnected I was from it all. As much as I tried to keep up with BC politics, the #metoo campaign, Black Lives Matter, various Trump-related debacles and the gradual de-sheening of Justin Trudeau, the fact remains that I've been consistently distracted by my own life. 2017 will be remembered as the first year in the last decade where I was, well, essentially "separated." In fact, last night would have been our 11th anniversary, and here I am in Smithers, visiting my kids staying at my in-laws' place (which I am enormously grateful for). Needless to say, I've been one of the people who's felt too busy to be politically and socially active, and I find that a little disheartening. But necessary.

But what can I say for 2017? I can be grateful for a few things:

• I can be grateful that my kids are generally happy and seem to be working through things admirably.
• I can be grateful that their mother cares for them and is healthy.
• I can be grateful for my job, which was very difficult overall, but its benefits were... beneficial, and my students have been patient.
• I can be grateful that I've been getting to know adults again, to the degree that I can have a minor social life with colleagues, musicians, and theatre people.
• I can be grateful for my experience in two community theatre plays, which helped me "get out" of a lot of self-imposed depression ruts.
• I can be grateful that I survived some oddly unprofessional summer jobs which helped make my first summer on my own more bearable,
• I can be grateful that I can point at a few instances in my life where I've learned to express my boundaries and needs more clearly, which has made life much more fulfilling.
• I've had an enormous amount of support from family through it all and have grown a little closer to my brothers, for example.
• I can be grateful for the little ways my confidence in playing music has increased for the first time in a few years.
• And I can be grateful for good health and for enjoying my body a little more.

And plenty of other things. I cannot fully express my gratitude for how my life has moved forward. And I can only hope that it will continue to move forward in good ways.

Unfortunately, I still haven't been able to write. My blog entries are still lacking in passion and order; my songs remain unfinished and without direction.. So, in those respects, the only direction I can go is up. 

​So here goes!

My #bestof2017, methinks. #2017bestnine

A post shared by Jeffrey Nordstrom (@jeffnords) on Dec 30, 2017 at 10:25pm PST