Friday, December 30, 2016

2016 End of the Year Update



Good Riddance 2016! Yay 2017!

This year has been filled with a lot of ups and downs, which I suppose is the normal routine in life, but it feels like its been extra bad for me and I'm ready to see what the New Year will bring and hope it comes with lots of fresh new energy to propel us all forward!

On the bright side, I end the year with a new job. I'm now the Executive Director of the NoHo Business Improvement District. I've been trying to get a job like this for a long time and am especially happy to land in an area that I spent my elementary school years in. NoHo is emerging as a hip area filled with fashion, tech and design. I even get to see new street art that pops up along the streets nearby. Getting up to speed is slow going, but I feel like bright things lie ahead.

Not to dwell on the bad stuff but... This year I experienced my first emergency surgery (and in Beirut no less!) I'm not going to lie. I kind of have been enjoying the whole experience except for the pain. I guess all those years of watching medical dramas have made me curious what the inside of hospitals really look like. This year I also lost my stepfather, Dick Roberts. Dick lived to a rich old 86 and certainly experienced a full life. He was always a lucky man and even his death showed that. He was healthy and then declined over a period of 6 weeks. He was lucky because, in the last weeks, he was constantly surrounded by family and friends and we were able to spend lots of quality time talking about life and listening to his favorite American Song Book, singing along all the way.

And of course, Hillary Clinton... Last year I told you all that all I wanted for Christmas was a woman President. I ended up spending a large part of 2016 trying to achieve that goal. I spent two weeks in Iowa before the Caucuses. I had a grand old time in Philadelphia during the Democratic Convention. Then I spent many of my fall weekends in Pennsylvania. I loved going door to door talking to voters. I particularly loved meeting so many new citizens, who were so excited to vote for the first time. I also really enjoyed being part of Executive Women for Hillary and helping women around the country activate and organize their friends. I thought I felt the glass ceiling cracking, but apparently it was shatterproof glass! Moving forward, I am horrified by the rhetoric and unpredictability of Trump and saddened by the divisive vitriol, but also have been going to lots of different organizing meetings and am seeing so many people wake up and find their voices. My hope is that out of the ashes will rise a stronger Democratic Party that is more sure of its ideals and more clear about its agenda. In the meantime, we all have to be sure to fight. I continue to be committed to working on immigration and racial justice issues, two things I care deeply about that I fear Trump is going to do real damage to.

Travel... yes, you are all wondering where I went this year.  My international trips included a great trip to Puerto Rico to explore their dynamic street art scene and I know, they are part of the USA, but it still felt a little foreign and I got to work on my Spanish! In the summer I took a  trip to Cairo, Egypt and Beirut, Lebanon, wo very very different Islamic countries. I really enjoyed the contrast of how religion is practiced and loved digging deep into the political situation in both places. Learning about the Arab Spring Uprising first hand in Egypt was fascinating and eye opening. And seeing the Syrian refugee situation up close and personal in Lebanon, the UN guarded border wall between Israel and Lebanon, plus the bullet ridden remnants of the Lebanese Civil War in between this soaring highrises of the international elite, showed me what a complicated hotbed that area of the world is once again. Domestically I enjoyed family trips to Water Island, USVI  where my grandmother used to live, a family reunion in Chicago, a weekend of friendship and street art in Detroit and a week in Cape May, which when added to my time politicking gave me a lot of interesting American experiences too.

In the New Year, I send wishes that we all are open to new experiences and find new passions to fill our heads and hearts. 

Wishing you well!

Cordelia

You can click any links above or check out my blog www.cordeliasjourneys.com to see pictures and hear even more about my travel this year.
Or follow my street art Instagram feed at @streetartisallaround
And my economic development and urban planning rumblings on Twitter @cordeliaNYC