In Retrospect

It's time for my favorite end-of-year game, What Have I Learned? And this year has been full of a lot of unexpected lessons.... So, what have I learned from 2013?

I learned how to ride a motorcycle.
I learned more than I expected about motorcycles themselves, and how to take care of them.
I learned how to Navajo ply yarn on my spinning wheel.
I learned Tunisian crochet.
I learned to always keep Addison's disease on my list of differential diagnoses, no matter what.
I learned just how miserable chronic severe pain can make you.
I learned that I can't take oxycodone.
I learned that there are board games that I like, and that hungrytiger has a knack for finding them.
I learned that it is both more difficult and more rewarding than I had expected to give out free books to people.
I learned that, when you're trained in grief counseling, calling the suicide hotline doesn't really help - you already know the tricks they'll use and what they'll say.
I learned that giving up financial autonomy is terrifying.
I learned that Concord grapes grow unnaturally well in our yard.
I learned my first lift in Argentine tango.
I learned that I can find something positive in every single day for a year.
I learned that I needed to come to a healthy definition of friendship for myself, and that a lot of people were more willing than I feared to come with me when I did - but not everyone.
I learned to dye my own yarn and fiber.
I learned a lot about writing RPG rules, and realized that it's not that I'm rules-stupid - I just prefer a different style than many of the folks I tend to game with.
I learned that epidural injections in your neck hurt, even when they numb you in advance.
I learned just how extremely broken our health care system is, and how even individuals within it go out of their way to disenfranchise those they feel are unworthy.
I learned what it feels like to stay overnight in ICU after major surgery.
I learned a lot of fiddly details about pet nutrition and how to actually translate the labels on pet foods, and what those words actually mean.
I learned that, while we do need to rethink our current strategies on protein restriction in cases of chronic renal failure, that the veterinary industry as a whole isn't quite there yet.
I learned that, in a crisis, my city pulls together, copes, and gets things taken care of better and faster than I ever would have imagined possible.
I learned just how much I love Boston, and how much it hurts me when she hurts.
I learned how to identify marijuana toxicosis in pets.
I learned that tramadol causes seizures in some patients.
Related, I learned what it feels like to have a seizure.
I learned that ziplining is amazing.
I learned that I should have taken dagibbs up on his invitation to his cottage party years ago, because it is wonderful there.
I learned that, while I have no interest in being a player in a boffer larp, being an NPC can be a lot of fun.
I learned that I don't like raw oysters.
I learned that donating money for charity becomes a hell of a lot more meaningful when I think of it in terms of hours worked.
I learned that my friends can be incredibly generous in joining me to donate to charity, if I just think to ask.
I learned that I need to go to the beach more often.
I learned that institutionalized sexism is far more rampant than I ever would have imagined.
I learned that I need to learn how to define myself more by who I am than by what I do.
I learned that pretending to be a zombie is enormously fun.
I learned how to apply for disability, and all the hoop-jumping that involves.
I learned that you can't bleach henna out of your hair.
I learned that, while I'll always have work to do, I've come a lot farther in pursuing my own wellness (both physical and mental) than I thought I had, or ever thought I would.

So... what about you? What did you learn this year?