“This NYE I know the very least I have ever known about the year head, well at least it feels that way. Work, travel, love, – all is up for grabs. I’m 28, my Saturn Returns, and I often feel perplexed by life, by the innumerous options and possibilities, and of the paradoxes that seem to lie both within me and surrounding me. I don’t always know what I want. But I do know it when I get it. Right now everything is unknown yet I’m happy, content in who I am and my maturing flexibility and perseverance. I have faith in something. While I don’t know what this something is, it has taken care of me and answered my prayers for the last 28 years. Something inside me makes me feel as if this will continue in my future. That is exciting. There are many adventures to come.” 31/12/10.

I must have finished reading Adventures Of Ideas by Alfred North Whitehead on the 31st of December 2010, as today reading through my summary notes and quotes I discovered the paragraph above.

It was refreshing to be reminded of embracing life’s uncertainties and persevering through life’s challenges with an faith in one’s intuitive feeling that when you know something’s right, you know it.

It was a strange reminder of how fast the years go by. The year that followed, 2011, was a hell of a year for me. Beginning with a trip to the hospital on New Year’s Day, the year followed with many challenges, mishaps and personal growth.

2012 has been a lot of fun while also a year of turning 30, feeling more grounded and establishing a clearer sense of priorities and who I am. While much of this is still in process it seems my Saturn Returns is over (thank God!) and a new chapter of life is beginning.

A week ago, on 21/12/2012, Earth began a new 24,000 year astrological cycle. For four years of my life I had been aware of this day and what it represents. I’m not sure I feel any different, or if there’s been much of a “shift in consciousness”, but I tell you what: it’s weird to think 2013 is just around the corner…

2013 is a strange number. It’s the first year to be denoted by four different digits since 1987. It contains as sense of new beginnings, bigger than normal years. I’m going to kick it off with a two week adventure in Thailand with a man who I am in love with. “I don’t always know what I want. But I do know it when I get it.” … I couldn’t be in a happier place!

It’s that time of year where one gets reflective and grateful, and on top of that the last time I was in Thailand was en route to Japan in October 2004, a couple of months before the tsunami. That’s eight years ago ~ how fast time flies!! With all these new beginnings, and a feeling of a cycle completed, I feel inclined to take a trip down memory lane and try to recall the last eight years of New Year celebrations:

2004 – Mt Fuji with Kumi and Ran’s family

2004

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2005 – Tokyo – Snowboarding and and a mid-night trip to a Shinto temple

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2006 – Narrabeen lake – reconnecting with school friends

2006

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2007 – Belrose with my Opa, after a catch up with school friends who are starting to get hitched.

2007

2008 – Bolivia – Uyuni Salt Lakes!!! Magic!

2008

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2009 – Paddington (next door to where I live now) with close friends

2009

2010 – Rose Bay / Vauclause – picnic, swim, fireworks & fun.

2010

2011 – Vancouver in the Shangri la with one of my best friends – cheers honey!

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 2012 Sydney / Thailand …

The beginning of a new year is a marking point for each of our lives. One looks at how they have grown and what they have accomplished in the 365 days just past, and considers their hopes for the year ahead. As I look through my last eight years of new year celebrations, of where I’ve travelled and the ways I’ve grown, I feel as if life only seems to get richer and richer.

My dear friends and readers of this blog, I thank you for your comments, emails, for “liking” on Facebook, and the other ways you support me – it is your  positive reinforcement that motivates me to continue to share my “adventures with ideas”.

I wish you all a happy silly season full of laughter and fun. I hope you have an enriching vision of your lives ready for 2013, and that the universe conspires to make that vision your reality. I will be on an airplane soon after the clock ticks over so I will say it now:

Happy New Year!

With love, Juliet xo