Project Reverb prompt: “What food did you discover this year? Or maybe you discovered a new way to prepare your favorite food. Or a new cookbook. Or a new restaurant. Tell us about your culinary adventures.”

This year, I discovered two recipes that continue to delight me: Kale & Brussels Sprout Salad and Glazed Lemon Zucchini Bread. More generally, I rediscovered cooking, and the joy of having something that I like when I’m eating out then later finding a recipe and making it for myself.

Reverb14 prompt: “What are you really proud that you made happen in 2014, despite the gremlins? And what will you do anyway in 2015?”

I became certified as a yoga instructor, and went on to teach even though my gremlins said I wasn’t thin enough, strong enough, flexible enough, or experienced enough. Even though sometimes I’m so uncomfortable in my body.

I stopped dieting and weighing myself even though the voices of criticism and judgment that were ingrained in me from almost the first moments of my life, starting with “it’s a girl!”, say I should do otherwise.

I kept writing and publishing even though the gremlins said “what are you even talking about? who cares?!”

I got a “born on purpose” dog even though the gremlins said I was a bad person for not rescuing, that I was also a liar because I was doing something I said I’d never do.

What I’d like to do anyway in 2015 is to continue to trust myself, go my own way, figure out what I want and live that.