Lots of folks are hating pretty hard on 2016. I get it, the political climate sucks and we lost a lot of pretty rad celebrities. However, all of that aside, 2016 has been my personal year of clean air and a clear mind.

It didn't start out this way. Hell, it started out pretty damn rough, as I became jobless after the company I was working for in Los Angeles closed its doors in February. After a bit of increased anxiety and entertaining some new opportunities in LA and a few other cities, we ultimately decided to throw caution to the wind and joblessly relocate to where we ultimately aspired to be, Portland.

Fortunately, that career risk lead to many rewards. I'm now at almost a solid year of solo freelancing, having experienced opportunities to work with all kinds of rad brands, cool agencies, and smart people on all types of creative work. It's been great getting my hands dirty again while skipping the political aspects that sometimes come with a full time job. Most of all, I've been more excited and motivated than ever to make things happen and learn new ways of working and hustling to find work.

This year, I've also managed to spend more time with both feet in the forest and more time dangling from rocks. That's particularly important because nature is the main reason we decided to move here, chasing our dream to live in a really rad city that genuinely cares about the environment and has a collective interest in everything that the natural world has to offer.

The clarity that I've found in 2016 is partially from being surrounded by nature, but also can be greatly attributed to a conscious effort to eliminate unnecessary distractions. I decided it was time to minimize my screen exposure and greatly reduce some constant sources of inflammation by deleting Facebook, unplugging cable, and instead picking up a lot of good books. As a result, my patience and quality of life have increased while my anxiety has decreased.

For the country and the world, 2016 may be remembered for some unfortunate incidents that I have chosen to exclude from this positive NYE post. But for my own personal health and happiness, it's been way more of a good than a bad type of a year.

Here's to the hope that our journey keeps moving in the same positive direction and that when tax season sneaks up on me, I don't wind up needing selling a kidney.

Cheers and I hope you all have a great New Year!