At an event that I worked in Los Angeles last year on New Year’s Eve, there was a jewel-covered gypsy at a table hidden upstairs. She was telling the party goer’s fortunes with a decaying set of tarot cards. I went over to her towards the end of the night and got my fortune told out of curiosity. She looked concerned and tense as she studied the cards. She then began to tell me about my upcoming year. She said I would spend lots of time in solitude and experience more obstacles than I had in previous years. My mood fell a little, but I brushed off her words and went into the new year with optimism. I actually didn’t remember this event or the fortune teller’s explanation until a few weeks ago as I began to reflect on two thousand and sixteen.

I don’t know if her fortune was simply a coincidence or if she just knew, but she was accurate regardless. Parallels between her words and events from this year pop up all over the place in my recollection of the past year’s occurrences.

As I sifted through what’s happened, I thought about what I’ve learned and how I grew, then wrote it down.

1. Don’t take the time you have with genuine companions for granted. As you get older, this time becomes rarer. These kinds of people are rare.
2. Genuine friends are challenging to seek out and these relationships can’t be forced.
3. Putting your emotions on the line for a person is horrifying and does end badly sometimes. But sometimes it doesn’t, and that’s what makes it valuable. Even if it does end badly, don’t forget why you were willing to put yourself out there in the first place.
4. Don’t mess with people’s emotions. Don’t bring someone else who genuinely cares about you down just because you don’t know what you want.
5. Love is not a game or a race.
6. Don’t give yourself away to people who have no intention of recognizing your value.
7. Respect yourself.
8. Art moves the soul and the soul is moved by art. The same goes for any passion.
9. Creativity and the ability to create singlehandedly saved me this year. Search for what saves you.
10. Family doesn’t necessarily have to mean blood association. Family is the people who open up their homes and provide a roof, food, and unconditional love when you need it most.
11. Even if it means scaring people away, say exactly what you feel. Your honesty will attract those who will compliment your true self. Skip the bullshit.
12. A lot of people don’t mean what they say. Don’t take words as concrete.
13. The only thing that makes life worth living is doing what makes you want to wake up tomorrow. If you don’t need it as much as you need to breathe, let it go. It will only cloud the real reason why you’re here.
14. Make people show you a reason to trust them.
15. Your intuition is right. It’s up to you to choose to listen to it or not.
16. Let the people that care about your well-being know that you love them.
17. Be a source of light.
18. When people are selfish, be selfless.
19. Help people who need help.
20. Listen to those who have something to say. Everyone deserves to be heard.
21. Get to know yourself and feel safe alone with your thoughts.
22. Talk with people, not about people.
23. Never take yourself too seriously.
24. Never take life too seriously.
25. Stay soft even when your environment is harsh.
26. Drugs and weed aren’t necessary to open up your mind. Find another way.
27. Stop looking to the person next to you for approval.
28. Just because someone is different than you, doesn’t mean they’re wrong.
29. Take a nap and drink some water.
30. Never stop getting stoked about tea and coffee and music.
31. Without human connection, life feels empty because we are all a part of the same force.
32. Change is uncomfortable but remember, it is also natural and inevitable. Our universe is in a constant state of flux. You are a part of that and change is a part of your being.
33. Stop segregating, labeling, and trying to be something. Just be and your essence will emerge.
34. Show progress through action and creation, not words.
35. Just be humble. Humble, humble, humble. And kind.
36. If you ever think that you are better than the homeless person that you just walked past, you are in a far worse place.
37. Read. Feel your thoughts expand.
38. Everyone has bad days, be consistently compassionate.
39. Make fun of yourself.
40. Find a perspective of the world that points toward the good while acknowledging what’s corrupt.
41. Throw your head back when you laugh and don't pay any mind to how loud you are.
42. Don’t regard the people that don’t get you, the right people will come into your life effortlessly.
43. Stare at the moon and sky and stars and sun and trees. It’s all breathing.
44. When everything is too heavy, remember your present life is a speck of existence within this eternity of being in the universe.