Christmas Letter 2021
As I sit to write this on Christmas Eve, it's 49 degrees and raining here in Colorado. Welcome moisture after an extremely warm and dry Autumn. Christmas Day also has some rain in the forecast, but we still haven't had our first proper snow.
I'm grateful for another year in which I had the joy of trying new things, meeting new people, and finding fun ways to spend time, despite the ongoing challenge we all face with a virus running rampant. I'm lucky to have had only a mild case, which with my health history I count a miracle. I feel lucky to have done all the things I did this year and lucky is one of the best feelings I know.
I'm particularly grateful for my family and their well-being. Bodhi is a high school soph this year and he continues to be a source of pride and lightheartedness. He received an academic letter for achieving and holding a 3.5 or higher GPA his freshman year, and he just finished his first semester of sophomore year with a 3.65. He is on the Principal's Advisory Committee as a student representative and he was selected to go to the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs for a statewide conference of student leaders. He continues to be a bright light, even with all the teen stuff he's been through. I forgot to mention that he's now taller than both of his parents and he's taken up golf this year.
Monica has created some amazing new avenues of helping her clients with nutrition, good food, and the GAPS Diet. She started a Facebook group called Ask the GAPS Chef that has grown and become an active community where she can share her knowledge and experience. She's also tackled the challenge of offering live cooking classes online with her Meat Stock Mondays series. She also finished a two-year study this year that qualified her to be ordained as a Sufi minister. She's looking forward to returning more actively to in-person teaching.
Vinnie the Yorkie is a constant fountain of love and play. He still thinks that the times we all sit down to watch a program together are an invitation to play fetch. I'm delighted that he still loves taking 2-3 long walks a day and that he wants me to be his walker. This is my main source of exercise.
I feel fortunate that I've had some incredible work opportunities this year. The year started with an announcement that I'd been selected as Consultant of the Year for Larimer-LovelandSBDC - an honor that means a lot to a guy whose fellow consultants bring a stellar amount of experience to our clients. In 2021 I provided business planning and marketing strategy support to a few dozen businesses in our county. I also was invited to participate and contribute to the PIVOT Jumpstart program through the Department of Business Entrepreneurship at Colorado State University. I've enjoyed the ongoing opportunity to serve this organization through their mastermind sessions.
Most of my private client work has been in two areas this year - career transition, and marketing and sales strategy. The excitement and anticipation I feel as my clients discover and activate their gifts and dreams is better than opening presents. This year was full of exceptional accomplishments on their part and that is my greatest reward. Some of the projects we completed together:
- website updates and redesign
- rebranding
- social media strategy and content creation
- online course design and creation
- building and launching YouTube channels
- starting and launching podcasts
- book launch strategy
- fundraising presentation development
- producing live online video events
- interactive website experiences
I have some other musical surprises coming in 2022 that I'll be working on. Stay tuned for an announcement in May. I appreciate you all very much and I wish you the best of holiday seasons and a year ahead with more joy than heartache, lots of creativity, and the will to be hopeful and optimistic in spite of the way the world shows up. Much love to all!