Today is my half-birthday. If you were born in the frozen tundra of late February like I was, you might understand why, while I don’t necessarily celebrate it, I do enjoy acknowledging the day. I spent it with some of the people I love,  doing things I love.

It’s also begins the six month countdown to the middle of my thirties. The first five years (so far) have been full of unexpected adventure and some incredible sadness. I started working in film, co-authored a book, flew in a plane for the first time, traveled (a lot!) went back to acting on the stage after a very long hiatus, co-founded a theatre, and gained a surrogate niece. I also lost my two very best furry friends and my Grandmother.

I have had some dreams fade away, while others stepped in to take their place. There are people that aren’t in my life anymore that I miss like a part of myself, and others that have arrived just in time to ease the pain.

While the highs have been lovely, the heartbreaking lows keep me from really wanting to relive anything (except maybe that week in Phoenix). I have been disappointed, elated, overwhelmed, humbled, frustrated, fulfilled, shattered and very blessed. Very little has been planned, and yet, I couldn’t have planned it any better.

I rest in the knowledge that the second half of this decade will be as memorable as the first. It won’t always be happy, and it might even have more lows than highs; it’s life after all, and Life tends to be unfair like that. But, while I don’t know where the road is going, I am so very grateful that I get to make the journey.