2011 was the year of trial and error: I tried on everything I thought would point me into the direction of a sense of Purpose and I let go of … a lot.

A friend described me as throwing myself against the wall until I broke through.

That sounds about right.

While I can’t claim this was a graceful endeavor (I certainly came out with a fair share of emotional/mental bruises), it was extremely effective in helping me determine which of my dreams were actually good ideas for me.

I’ll write more about my hopes for 2012, but for now here’s a few lessons I learned from choices I made in 2011, plus my favorite posts of the year. (Of course, there were other personal choices and lessons learned as well, but not everything is meant to be shared… even on a blog.)

Said Goodbye to Acting

LESSONS:

I believe in both loving what we do for a living and loving the lifestyle we live. Pursuing an acting career was rough, but it also taught me to have a thick skin while remaining open, find my own voice, appreciate the talent in others, and tell the story the needs to be told. I’m still working on all these areas of course, but I now have more control over when and how I do this. The decision to leave also defined the rest of my year in many ways: Letting go, even when it’s really really hard to do so.

Ruled out getting a Masters degree (for now)

LESSONS:

I love learning in a classroom setting and really enjoyed the courses I took this year, like French Literature & Art History. But I have to be cautious about the fact that when I become interested in something I tend to want to turn it into my job (like when I became a certified health coach in 2010), instead of just enjoying it. A possible answer to this could be looking into meet-up groups in 2012 and/or immersing myself in one topic I’m interested for a set period of time and then move on to the next “thing.”

Sweated

LESSONS:

Thanks largely to a stint working for lululemon, I took part in a 30 Day Yoga challenge, ran in three NYC races, and tried out a slew of workout classes like Physique 57, Barre Method, Figure 4, etc. No surprise here- I feel better when I exercise more! I also accepted that I’m lazy in that I need a place to workout within walking distance for me to be motivated to go. Also, I’m happiest when I can exercise to music and in groups. In 2012, I’d like to try find a running group and possibly a boot camp group to help me prep for a marathon (no more putting this one off!).

Moved

LESSONS:

Moving to Brooklyn didn’t actually save much money and apartment hunting in the NYC area was extremely stressful. Also, going into the city does feel like a chore and not having a good grocery store nearby caused my eating habits to become less healthy. However, I also learned I enjoy living in a place that isn’t quite so busy/touristy and I like checking out new places to explore. Plus, having a dishwasher as well as laundry in the basement has felt like a little piece of heaven. Overall: Change is good, but like The Facts of Life: You take the good, you take the bad…

Traveled

• New countries: The Netherlands, Canada, Costa Rica
• Repeated Countries: Spain
• New state: Oregon
• Repeated states: Illinois, Arizona, Maine

LESSONS:

I love travel, but I really love travel when I get to spend time with people who live in and love the places I visit. Ideally I need time to spend with other people and time to explore on my own. I’d also really like to travel to places that will take me out of my comfort zone in 2012. Oh, and taking quality video requires having a camera operator. I was often stressed out trying to document the trips! Discovering why and how I want to travel will be a big part of next year.

Continued Blog/Site/Revamp

LESSONS:

The biggest lesson I’m learning with trying to hone in on my web presence is to really really focus on the content and spend less time worrying about the look of the site. Although my designer did a fantastic job, I hadn’t thought through clearly enough what the site was about because I hadn’t clearly thought through what I was about. Had I done so, I would have realized I didn’t actually want to be a life or health coach. I’m also discovering I don’t like documenting things that happened in the past…. Like a trip that happened two months ago, for example. This means I will have to discipline myself to at least write the outline for the article within a week of the inspiration/event. Overall, I’m still working on what I want my site to be in 2012 and I’m now constantly asking myself these two questions: Why does this matter? Whom am I helping with this?

Wrote Stuff

LESSONS:

To be frank, much of what I wrote this year was complete and total crap and I can’t say how much I appreciate you swimming through the murk with me. But after forcing myself to look back on the words I shared with the world in 2011, a few posts peeked their heads out from the deep and beckoned to see the light of day again. The thread they all have in common is they are my most personal posts and came from a place of total vulnerability and transparency. I plan to use these as the basic standard for future posts, in hopes that my writing will improve and my voice will emerge in 2012

11 Of  My Personal Favorite Posts of 2011:

{For a shortcut, my absolute most favorite posts are in bold}

How to NOT Be the Life of the Party: Be Mediocre, Be Safe & Be Normal.

First Times An Taking Nothing For Granted

Sliding Doors, Parallel Lives, & The Chance To Choose

The Calm After The Storm

Words to Live By

The Most Important Story Is Your Own

Let Me Slip Into Something More Uncomfortable

Ramblings on Fear

Jealousy: The Good, The Bad, The Truth

What You Want vs What You Want To Want

The Letting Go… Every Ending Is A New Beginning

Plus a bonus Guest Post for good measure:

The Magic Hour (No Magic Required)

Whatever 2011 was for you, I hope you never forget that it paved the way for you to become the person you are today.

And I wish whomever that person is a very Happy New Year.