Happy New Year :) I wish you all a happy healthy 2013!

A few months ago I received this email:

Dear Shireen,

I’ve seen your magnificent blog and fell in love with Newfoundland. We are redecorating our house and had been searching for a living room wall poster for a long time.

When we saw below picture we loved it so much. Is it possible for you to send a high resolution of this photo so we can have it print out in a 3mx2m wall poster. I can send you a picture of the room after :)

thank you very much,

(Name) from İstanbul-Turkey

Below it was this photo – of St. John’s Newfoundland, that I took of a neighbourhood known as the Battery.

I was blown away; normally I don’t release large format digital files – but how could I say no? Someone had written from Turkey with the humbling notion that they loved a photo of mine so much they’d like to cover a wall with it. I sent a link, they sent their thanks, and a kind note inviting me to stay with them if I’m ever in Istanbul and then I mostly forgot about it.

Last night, the most amazing New Years surprise arrived in my inbox:

They really did it – they used the photo of St John’s Newfoundland as a wallpaper. What a beautiful family – I am so honoured and humbled that I had to pass my phone around the party last night just so everyone could see these lovely people. What a connection! I hope one day to meet them in person.

I’ve spent some time, as you might expect, thinking of New Years Resolutions. I’m taking up horseback riding, violin lessons and needle felting. I’ve recently become a partner in the firm I work for, so building a company is going to form a big part of my goals. I’ve got financial goals, travel goals, and fitness goals.

But late last night I spent time reflecting – these were all well and good for ‘outside’ things that I’d like to be/have/do. What about the inside? What’s the most important thing there? It’s the people in my life that make it the beautiful journey that it is. I value the connections I share with others – be it over the internet or in person. I love the fact that I’ve connected with so many amazing people through this blog. I value my friends and family and, above everything else, I want to spend more time being with them and never losing an opportunity to let them know what they mean to me.

Thank you, friends in Turkey, for a New Years Eve treat, and a reminder of what’s really important in my world – you helped me start my 2013 off on the right foot!