I’m glad I did this: looking back I actually managed to do a very decent amount of stuff. During the year quite a few times it felt like I was just failing miserably at all of it: falling asleep trying to read, spending more time waiting for the paint to dry (literally!) than actually painting, doing more planning for a trip than travelling and so on.

I think it’s because I was looking at different areas in isolation. Reading one book per month doesn’t seem like much, but reading one book AND completing one painting AND writing one blog post AND (…) per month isn’t too shabby :]

I’d encourage you to try it! Let me know how it goes. I also did a work version of this post.

So what did I do over 2016? I learned a bunch of new skills and accomplished a few more, but it wasn’t all wine and cheese. Have a look:

I have learned a few new things

  • I have finally managed to tackle my fear of water and inability to float and I have learned how to swim (or rather how not to drown straight away!)
  • …which allowed me to learn how to scuba dive and get certified (did PADI Open Water and Adventure).
  • I played a bit more with coding outside of work and R; and (after messing around with other things) I built this website with Jekyll.
  • I started to learn photography and (together with my partner) bought my first DSLR. We now need to figure out how to process all those thousands of photos we took on our trip to Queensland.
  • I have been learning watercolour painting. I completed 8 paintings (i.e. one per month) through Anna Mason’s watercolour school and have others started, one of which is nearly completed (one more session needed I think). I have also painted a gift for my dear friend and did some smaller pieces/sketchbook work. This is my clematis and viola from the School:

watercolour

Other things I have accomplished

  • I read 9 books and I am just short of finishing further 4 (damn! shouldn’t be reading multiple books at once). I read tons of blogs and articles (and stuff connected to work), but I have been struggling with finishing novels. It’s partially because I’m one of those annoying people who fall asleep as soon as they crawl into bed. The best book I have read last year was “The Girl With All The Gifts” by M. R. Carey.
  • I added quite a few new species to my birding list, including the Queensland endemics except for the owls and the cassowary you can see below.
  • Talking about QLD: I went to the tropics, visited the oldest rainforest in the world and saw the Great Barrier Reef. Pretty great trip!
  • I published 12 blog posts and started a Fieldwork Tips series (more to come on that front).
  • I managed to keep evenings and weekends work free with very, very few exceptions - yay me!
  • I made more effort on the social side. I also managed to see some of my college friends, which is always a treat. And I met a few of the great Twitter folk at a conference.
  • I sorted most of my belonging out and de-cluttered considerably. Refuse, Reduce, Reuse & Repair, Repurpose, Recycle - right?
  • Over 5 years with my awesome partner, including 2 years of long-distance relationship, since I have moved for my PhD. Tackling the two body problem isn’t easy, but we are both committed to each other and to making it work.

Cassowary

Oddball items

  • I got stung by a jellyfish, which I’m adding to being stung by a scorpion and by bulldog ants. Lets hope that a stingray isn’t next.
  • I unleashed #wildbum on the world and it was good - my claim to Twitter fame!

wildbum

Low Points

What gave? I want to focus on positives, but I don’t want to pretend that it all has been rosy.

I have had more health issues this year - in addition to my standard mix of chronic and recurring problems. This made life that little more difficult and more painful. That, combined with limited time and access issues, meant that I pretty much stopped rock climbing. Which in turn meant that it was very hard to get enough physio and keep my chronic pain in check… A vicious circle.

Not climbing regularly = less social contact. Needing to do more physio at home = even less social contact. Dealing with two body problem means that I already struggle to be a part of social circles, so this hasn’t helped. PhD can be a very lonely venture.

I have also experienced more xenophobia this year, both before and after Brexit. There is also the uncertainty brought by the vote.