A Report from the Future

One year ago today, I wrote in my journal: "First entry of 2009! Call me crazy, but this year feels like a good one. :-)" Then, near the end of the entry: "The cosmic energy is definitely here in 2009." So now, one year later, it feels appropriate to ask: was the cosmic energy here in 2009?

Let's take a little scamper down memory lane and check it out. I wrote a small book of poems -- my academic thesis -- and graduated from college. (Bachelor's degree: check.) I spent an amazing summer visiting friends and family all over the U.S., and packed all my worldly possessions into labeled boxes which are currently being stored in my mother's basement, waiting for whatever comes next. (Thinking ahead: check.) I bought a one-way plane ticket and moved to Indonesia to teach college students English. (Plunging headfirst into the great unknown, thereby throwing all forward-thinking out the window: check.) And what have I done since I moved to Indonesia?

I've learned a new language, eaten cobra, and sat through an all-night shadow puppet performance. I've been caught in tropical thunderstorms and swum in the Indian ocean. I've hiked the foothills of a volcano, watched the sun set over Bali, and received baby turtles as a thank-you gift. I've stood on the side of a dirt road while a man I've just met shimmies up a coconut tree, cuts off a young coconut, hacks off the top and hands it to me so I can drink the water straight out of the fruit. The cosmic energy, I think, was definitely there in 2009.

And while I won't pretend it doesn't make me a little sad to be celebrating the new year so far away from friends and family, can I really complain? (I mean, who else gets to drink fresh-blended mango juice on New Year's Day?) I'm having the adventure of my life, and I have no idea what's on tap for 2010. And I like it that way. Happy New Year to everyone from me and my mom (and our becak driver) in Indonesia -- here's to hoping the cosmic energy sticks around in 2010. And to all the Americans I love on the other side of the ocean who are reading this as they wake up hungover a couple hours from now, from where I'm sitting (12-15 hours in your future) -- the chances are looking pretty damn good.