Farewell 2002

2002 had a lot going for it when it started. With the deaths of my closest uncle and my best friend, followed by the end of my marriage, and the events following September 11, 2001 easily won my own annus horribilis award. 2002 could only be better.

The seeds of the turn-around were actually sown in December 2001 when I completed the New Warrior Training Adventure with the Mankind Project. Inspired by this amazing course, I threw myself into personal development work. Just like my inner journey this year took me to places familiar and unfamiliar, my outer journey took me to the far flung corners of the world, including Colorado, New York, New Zealand, Australia and of course places around the UK.

After a visit to my parents in Australia, I made the decision to move out to Brisbane, and began the marathon of moving countries. By May, my ex-wife and I finalised our settlement, and I became the bewildered owner of a flat, a large mortgage, and no permanent room of abode as the redecoration works began and I had to move my bed from room to room on a daily basis. I spent my last few months in the UK visiting as many friends and family as I could. Time ran out fast, and sadly I didn't get to see everyone I wanted to.

The end of September came, and the time to leave my job of eight years - the only job, in fact, that I'd ever had. That was a shock to the system - I was prepared to think that I had become part of the furniture, but I was not prepared for the realisation that my old firm had become a comfy leather sofa in my life. I shall miss the work, the people and the spirit, but I know the time has come to stretch my legs.

October saw my sister visit me in the UK, my trip to staff a warrior weekend in the USA, final farewells, and then ... Australia.

Settling in to my new job, home and life has been tricky at times, but somehow, shifting down a gear, working less and relaxing more has turned out to be a lot easier than I thought it would be. Strange that. My body is rapidly acclimatising to the beautiful weather, though I must admit it still hasn't realised that it's Christmas because it's far too hot for that. I'm enjoying living so close to my parents and my sister. The new warrior community here has made me more than welcome, and I'm getting involved in nearly everything open to me. So, here I am, twelve months later, looking back with joy on a fabulous 2002.

Highlights of my year include (in no particular order):
- Learning how to salsa dance;
- Watching my best friend, beautiful and bursting with emotion as she walked
down the aisle to be wed;
- The ONE time when my kendo sensei nodded and said "good" after a fight;
- Learning authentic Glaswegian drinking and speaking;
- Weekly I-groups with men I trust, and who challenged and supported me through all;
- Standing alone for three hours in the pitch black and the pouring rain in an autumnal forest somewhere in New York state;
- Sipping cocktails with friends at yet another trendy place in London we just HAD to go to;
- A wild Saturday night with close on a hundred New Warriors in a steaming rainforest on the Gold Coast hinterlands;
- Going wake boarding, and finally managing to take a corner before the inevitable collapse and the long swim to shore;
- Many a magical carpet moment;
- Looking into ground-zero in Manhattan, and seeing the hope of a city being rebuilt, rather than just the devastation of the past;
- Any time at all spent with my niece;
- Driving high into the Rocky mountains national park in Colorado;
- The graduation ceremonies of my cousins and my sister;
- Walking the labyrinth; and
- A barbecue on Nudgee beach: slowly digesting my mother's tandoori chicken, great Australian beer, and standing in the warm water at sunset, hitting tennis balls out into the sea for the dogs to go fetch and return.

But mostly, 2002 has been about the amazing men and women I have met, who have taught, blessed and inspired me, as well as the rekindled friendships of the past. Blessings to you at the turn of the year. May 2003 bring you and I all that we hope for.