2016 was a good year. Was it the best year of my life? Hard to say.
In broad strokes this was a year about exploring emotions. Actually feeling them in the moment as well as processing powerful emotions from the past. It has made me a better person.
I also got deeper into spirituality. I spent two months in Bali doing a lot more yoga, experimental meditations, ecstatic dance parties and other weird esoteric shit. The yoga practice continued and is now my main form of exercise.
I had at least one of what would quality as full-blown “mystical experience”. In the day-to-day I witnessed more changes in consciousness – noticeably altered states, without drugs – than ever before.
Back in Thailand I went on a 10-day silent meditation retreat. It was extremely difficult, one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but even more worthwhile.
I left Asia at the end of June, said goodbye to my first real relationship and cried at the airport. It wasn’t just saying goodbye to her but to the whole place and an entire period of my life. Even if I were to go back in the future I know it wouldn’t be the same. That was a big inflection point.
From Thailand I flew to Montreal where I had finished university two years prior. The summer there was great (fuckhead notwithstanding) and I deepened old friendships, made new ones, and took lots and lots of drugs.
Early this year I also stopped being broke – easily one of the biggest quality of life increases I’ve ever experienced. While the difference in absolute numbers is not that great, the experiential difference in the day-to-day between always worrying about money and almost never doing so is truly chasmic.
A quick visit home in November was followed by spending the last month in San Francisco. I met some pretty incredible people there and will likely go back in January, possibly for the longer term. It felt right to be there, and all the travelling does get tiring after a while.
I also attended a psychedelic research conference in NYC, met Duncan Trussell in the flesh, got a tattoo, experienced the death of a close relative and cried more times than in probably the last 5 years combined. Again, emotion.
In any case, it’s hard to sum up a whole year in just a few words. In hindsight it seems 2016 was extremely busy but I guess every year is a bit like that.
Finally, with regards to this site: I’m not entirely sure where it’s going. So far it’s been a combination of actionable advice, an avenue for self expression for me as well as random stories from my life, which is kind of an odd mix.
I know the writing here has helped a lot of you and for that I’m eternally grateful. Since the beginning the best part has always been reading your comments, emails and so on. That’s the “fulfilment” part, for me.
As things stand right now, in the big picture, I see this as a reasonably effective way to do good and a relatively ineffective way to make money, considering the time and effort investment. It is still what I want to be doing for the time being, but that could change, especially considering there can be better ways to do both those things.
Anyway, that’s where I’m at. I hope you enjoy the holidays and time with your friends and family.
Thanks for reading.
Aaron
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