The Best of 2017 (part 2)

I love writing gratitude lists to the leaving year and usually I use the first week of January for that. I also write visions for the new year (but not New year resolutions), plans and goals. As much as I love those activities, I never used to share them on the blog because that would feel like bragging to me. I am often concerned about the literature value, hehe. Like: “what would the reader get out of it?” However, doing the post about the best pictures and moments of 2017 felt so right to me – and I hope, that it felt like a positive sparkle to you. So I just have to complete that list and share the rest of that year – in pics and highlights!

after sunset in Rovinj 

June

• Salsa Festival. For the third time in my life I went to Rovinj, Croatia for the salsa festival. Rovinj is one of my most favorite places on earth, I have felt so much happiness there that my heart instantly feels fluffy whenever I set my foot in Rovinj. I have enjoyed every time I visited the salsa festival, but this year felt like fireworks. Maybe, because I was all fireworks, coming with good vibes and leaving my expectations at home. Those two weeks were so intense with positive emotions that they became my treasure for the rest of this year.
• My favorite photo is one of the sunrise over the roofs of Rovinj. This is the view when I would come from the party at 6 in the morning. Add the church bells ringing and the sea gulls screaming. A simple recipe for a happy life.

  

  sunrise in Rovinj

July

• Summer in the city. In July some of Carles’ family were visiting with us, we made picnic in the park and even went to the beach in Oslo.
  

  exploring the neighborhood

  

  Vespa matching the facade

  

  more Vespas

  

  Oslo flowers
• Change in status. I received the Norwegian citizenship. Jippi! After 11 years in this country I can wave the flag with real patriotic pride 🙂
• My favorite photo is of an unknown girl I saw out of the cafe window. It is taken on the day of visiting the police office for ordering my new Norwegian passport. In a way that girl reflects my state of mind 🙂

  

  not me, but feels like me 🙂

August

• Micro Exploring. August was the month for roaming the city I know too well (or I think, I know) with the camera and childish excitement. I coined the expression “micro exploring” and was very happy with this activity.
• My favorite photo is of these red flowers, reminding me of flamenco dancers. 

September

• Back to school. I was happy to get back to the routine of my Spanish course. And to my routine of blogging and exercising too.
• Getting older. I celebrated my 37th birthday and realized how much I appreciated my age.
• Reinventing myself. My friend gave me a style analysis as a birthday gift. It was a playful activity, and I had much fun taking the tests and learning about my personal style.

  

  feeling like a gypsy

October

• Taking a stand. We went to Barcelona for the referendum and the demonstrations. Though I am pretty apolitical most of my life, I realized that the personal IS political and that being a human is being a citizen and using your voice, even if this is not your country. The voice matters a lot.

  

  the voices of Barcelona

• Experiment: Shopping on pause. I got a bit frustrated by the shopping choices I had made before, and also I was trying to save some money – so I decided to stop shopping for a month. In this period I got an interesting perspective on my wardrobe and possessions (I found out that I have enough, though it often feels that I don’t). I hope to share more of these insights on the blog.
• My favorite photo is an image of fading beauty which makes me wonder at how nature can be generous and creative without limits.

  

  fading beauty

November

• Experiment: Month without Instagram. Ok, this was not intentional experiment. It just happened that I fell off Instagram first 4-5 days in a row, than weeks – and then came a time when I was totally off, checking my feed once in a while. There were no restrictions, I just let it happen – and I discovered how much more confident I grew in my own life.
• Nature watching. The botanical garden again, now watching the nature falling asleep, under the first snow. That observing of nature cycles gives me some kind of inner peace and grounded feeling.

  

  soon in slumber

December

• Waiting for the light and creating light. December is the darkest month of the year, and you feel it especially in Norway. So while we were waiting for the lighter times, we had to create our own light. Visiting Christmas markets, inviting friends for a potlock dinner. I did a photo walk with Christmas lights in focus, went out dancing and was conscious about my intention of looking good and feeling good (that helps when I am hungry for sunlight and low on energy).

  

  December lights

Spread over the whole year there was a lot of dancing, salsa and not, but mostly to the afro and latino rhythms. There were a lot of tapas eaten and uncountable glasses of red wine. A lot of coffee shared with friends. A lot of kissing and hugging and saying “I love you”. A lot of ideas and inspiration. A lot of humor and laughing out loud moments. These are just the most important things that I would love to take with me to the next year.

May your year 2018 be full of life, full of good energy and enthusiasm, and may you achieve whatever you set your mind on! May this be the year of reinvention and new discoveries. Life is too magical and too full of wonders to let it slip past us while we are fussing over unnecessary things. May this year be full of meaning – whatever that may mean to every one of us. Cheers!

Oslo lights in the darkest of days