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
