NYEve_Dec2013New Year’s Eve: it’s here already – again. In a few hours, I’ll gather with some friends to celebrate and to greet 2014 with kisses and champagne.

As I look back over 2013, doing my year-end review, I see the usual number of things that went well and things that didn’t: there were successes, surprises, disappointments, bumps in the road and a few blind curves. I’m now laying out my road map for 2014, knowing that flexibility is key: the year ahead will yield its own surprises and obstacles. Still, I like to lock in a destination, even while knowing I’ll probably make some detours along the way.

Relationships were a high point this year. Here are a few of the professional events and activities that brought me new colleagues and friendships: Hurricane Season at Eclectic Company Theater, Dallas Travers’s Thriving Artist Circle, Scott Brick’s annual narrators potluck, plus several LA Playwrights and CalArts Alumni events.

Relationships were a source of disappointment, too: unreturned phone calls, forgotten birthdays, the too hasty and then regretted comments. How often was I less than the friend or spouse or family member that I’d like to be?

I surprised myself a few times this year by exploring new skills: I grew heirloom tomatoes in a container on my balcony; I made table linens. Who knew?

I learned lessons about honoring the limits on my resources and about pushing on despite those limits and about grace. More than once I was grateful for the simple kindness of strangers – and of friends.

It was a year of challenges, to be sure – but it was also a year of fun and unexpected gifts. And now it’s time to put 2013 to bed and welcome 2014. See you on the other side of midnight!