We’re getting settled into 2020. Over the past week you’ve seen everyone recap their 2019s and stare down their 2020s. So why am I writing about 2018 at perhaps the least relevant time?
Simple. I’ve been recapping #philippesdecade year-by-year and I probably should have started sooner to be on 2019 now. Then again, maybe the timing is perfect. The last time I wrote a recap of 2018 was at the end of that year and I felt devastated. But now, I look back at that year a little differently.
2018 was a very important year for me and my family, though when it ended, I was more than happy to be done with it. Between trying unsuccessfully to have a kid most of that year, Deanna getting pretty sick late in the year, and feeling isolated and lonely, it was hard to stay hopeful.
But now, I think of that year as the Infinity War to 2019’s Endgame. It was packed. Anticipated. Bleak at the end. And while that was its final note, it was also pretty exciting. The highlight reel would’ve looked great.
I fulfilled a years-long dream of going to Iceland. I also got to fulfill the dream of taking Deanna to my old Italian stomping grounds. In between I went to my friend Tim’s wedding in England and it was on of the most fun weddings I’d been to.
I set a new PR for a half marathon time at the San Diego Half. I got to learn much more about using a creative career to advance important causes at events like Plywood Presents in Atlanta and STORY in Nashville. Deanna and I celebrated our fourth anniversary in Vancouver.
I took a Plant With Purpose trip to Haiti that showed me how to keep choosing hope.
That year reminded me that the highlight reel can look great while the inner battle is tough. But either way, the story continues.
Twenty Eighteen