As we are now approaching the end of the year I thought it would be a good time for me to have a look back at my 2016, to remember the highlights as well as the darker moments. For me, my blog is such a fantastic outlet for the jumbled mess of thoughts inside my head that this post is probably much more for me than it is for anyone who might read it, but I hope you enjoy sharing my year with me nevertheless!
While I hear some people project about how they cannot wait to kiss 2016 goodbye, and understandably so given the current state of our world, I want to focus first on my good moments, because it really hasn't all been that bad!
Musical Highlights
I have had a lot of very joyful music-filled moments this year! I performed so many huge pieces for the first time: Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, Ysaye 5th Sonata, Bach 3rd Sonata, Bach's Double Violin Concerto with orchestra, Mozart and Weber Clarinet Quintets, Schumann's 'Das Paradise und Die Peri' and so many more. I met lots of new musicians from all over the world with whom I worked and took a lot of inspiration from. I played in front of many audiences and got some wonderful feedback. Most important though, has been my work with my teacher, my mentor and, overall, one of my favourite people ever. She doesn't just teach me about the violin, but she also shows me what is important in life, what things can mean, the possibilities that are at my fingertips if I look for them. She is an incredibly special person and I honestly feel so privileged to be able to share some of her time, to be able to work with her. I think that everybody needs someone like that in this world - someone who believes in them and who can truly inspire them as she does with me. I feel so lucky.
New Experiences
My 2016 has been full of new experiences! I guess the biggest one has been moving in and living with my boyfriend. Before this I counted myself as someone who just could NOT live with other people, I was a lone soul. But I absolutely love living with him, my best friend, and although it is definitely a process of working out how best to deal with certain issues (like cleaning or furniture arrangement or who takes up most of the bed space etc.), it seems to only be getting better and better!
The second thing I must mention is my blog! I started writing my blog at the end of March 2016 and have not looked back since. As I said, it is really an amazing outlet, it helps me so much personally, it gives me something to focus my creative energy into and I just love it! I love all the new things that come with it too; the community, the Twitter chats, the comments, reading other blogs, brainstorming blog posts, taking pictures, new hobbies... the whole package!
As usual, I travelled a lot this year and saw quite a few new places, but my particular favourites were Riga, the Black Forest, Rome and Belgrade. All extremely different places with unique personalities, I had so much fun discovering each place and the people there. I wrote a lot of blog posts on my travels this year, so if you are interested in the details of my experiences, please check them out!
Another first for me this year will be travelling to my Mom's new house in Quebec, where she moved this year, and seeing her new life there. It still feels a little strange to have my family SO spread out over the world, but I am so looking forward to my first Canadian Christmas!
Another thing I wanted to mention was all of the great new friends that I made in 2016. Whether it was starting a conversation with someone on a train which turned into a lovely friendship, or during my concert tour around Ireland where I met so many fantastic people who became fast friends, or just meeting friends of friends of friends, I have had a lot of fun with all of these new people in my life and I really look forward to more of this.
Reconnecting With The Old
As well as making new friends, I finally managed to meet up with some of my best old friends this year, including one or two that I hadn't seen in a few years! I have realised how important these people and their friendships are to me - they are more than friends, they are gorgeous people who I wish to be a part of my life forever. One extremely special moment, of course, was watching my friend Milica get married. I don't think I will ever forget that day, I get emotional just thinking about it! I really feel that being there for your friends, at times like that especially, is one of the most important things in life.
Another big thing that has to fall under this category is that I started my masters' degree back in Salzburg, where I did my Bachelor and used to live. It has definitely been a great decision, and nice to visit all of my old haunts and see some old friendly faces around!
Difficult Moments
It would definitely not be a fair representation of my year if I didn't also share the not-so-nice times too. Personally, the most difficult thing has been the death of my Grandma in September, playing at her funeral and the upsetting family divides that have come out of it. I feel extremely sad and can only hope that we all find some way to come together and live with this huge loss.
Brexit and the appointment of Trump are both incredibly scary and unbelievable. I think what Russel Brand said about these issues is really clear; that it is not either of these things that we should be MOST worried about but more the conditions that arose in which these things could happen. I think he is right - how could this happen? In any case, these are extremely uncertain times that we live in, we can only hope for a better political year in 2017.
And as I didn't want to end today's Blogmas post on a low note, I want to finish by wishing my Mom a very happy birthday today! I am so proud of her for making such huge changes in her life and her strength in doing so, for never stopping to seek progression and happiness. I am so thankful for her incredible support of me, for letting me know that she is ALWAYS there. From my heart, I wish her the very, very best of life. Happy birthday, Mom! XXX
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